Emerging from the Recession: Pennsylvania Ranks Third in Jobs Created in 2010

Pennsylvania added 65,000 jobs in 2010, ranking third in the nation in job creation coming out of the recession. Neighboring New Jersey, on the other hand, ranked 50th in job performance for the same time period, losing 31,000 jobs. Adjusting for state workforce size, Pennsylvania ranked 12th in the nation on job performance and New Jersey ranked 49th.

Pennsylvania outperformed all neighboring states in job growth between December 2009 and December 2010, with a growth rate of 1.2% — followed by West Virginia at 1.1% and Maryland at 1%. No neighboring state came close to the number of new jobs created in Pennsylvania in 2010.

The Great Recession has been hard on Pennsylvanians, with almost 600,000 people unemployed at the peak. But the Commonwealth weathered the recession better than many states, with state unemployment rates below the national average in 35 of the 36 months since the recession started (including 12 months when the rate was at least a full point below the national average).

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The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center is a non-partisan policy research project that provides independent, credible analysis on state tax, budget and related policy matters, with attention to the impact of current or proposed policies on working families.