ST. LOUIS — The American economy boomed in 2021, and job growth followed suit.
But it still wasn't enough to get employment back to pre-pandemic levels.
Nonfarm employment rose 4.4% between December 2020 and December 2021, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That represents an increase of nearly 6.3 million jobs.
Missouri ranked 33rd among all states and the District of Columbia, with a 2.77% increase in employment during the period. Illinois experienced 4.66% job growth, ranking it 16th.
Based on total jobs added in 2021, California led the list, followed by Texas and Florida. Missouri gained 77,600 jobs in 2021, 23rd nationwide, while Illinois ranked fifth, adding 262,600 jobs last year.
Missouri has regained 98.8% of its jobs since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, while Illinois has recovered 96.9% of its jobs during that period.
The national landscape
The South has often led the way in job growth in recent years, but it didn't dominate the job growth rankings in 2021. This time, it was the West at the top.
A pair of tourism-centric states that were hard hit by the pandemic led the way in job growth last year. Nevada and Hawaii each topped 7% job growth.
California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado and New Mexico also ranked in the top 10 with job growth of at least 5.75%.
But not all states in the West soared in 2021. South Dakota (0.79%), Wyoming (0.95%) and Idaho (1.82%) posted the weakest job growth in 2021.
The COVID-19 comeback
While all 50 states and the District of Columbia recorded job growth in 2021, only six states — Texas, Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Georgia and Montana — had higher employment in 2021 than they did at the start of the pandemic.
Many states are getting closer, however, with 46 states and Washington, D.C., all recovering to at least 95% of their pre-pandemic employment totals.
Despite Hawaii ranking near the top for growth in 2021, it still has the longest road to job recovery. It is more than 75,000 jobs off its March 2020 total and is the only state where employment hasn't recovered to 90% of its pre-pandemic level — its recovery is at 88.3%.
Read the full story on the St. Louis Business Journal website.
