Jobs are everything. Period. No one except retirees typically buy a home without a job (excluding the very small percentage of wealthy individuals).
As the U.S. economy surges (yes-surges, the economy is much better than most perceive) job growth is not at all equal across the country. While we may be the United States of America, we are in no way the United Economy.
At least through 2014, oil and gas field technology, oil and gas exploration, production and oil field services driven by fracturing of shale formations were significant factors contributing to job growth in some states. It will be interesting to see how employment plays out in the coming year as some states will obviously gain from cheap energy (such as the recreational vehicle manufacturing industry in Indiana), while others may not grow as much (North Dakota, Alaska and Texas come to mind).
So what were the best job growth states in 2014 from a percentage growth basis? The oil and gas states driven by fracking percolate to the top. The following table shows the top 10 states in the past 12-months based on job growth rates from a percentage basis.
For every winner there is a state that is not-so-fortunate. The following table shows the 10 states with the lowest percentage increase in jobs during 2014.
From a total number of jobs created perspective, following are the top-10 states with the greatest total job growth in 2014.
The following table includes all 50 states sorted alphabetically. In addition to percentage and total job growth it includes the average annual percentage growth rate for the past five years.
No doubt job growth by state will continue to change as differing segments of the economy evolve as 2015 progresses. Perhaps the best news is that every one of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia had positive job growth in 2014 — the first time that has happened since July 2013.
Jobs are everything. Period.
Ted