Three years ago, the United States lost nearly 8.8 million job positions in what is now called the Great Recession. Today, many states are still trying to recover from this severe economic downturn.

Only four states have returned to their pre-recession employment rates: Alaska, Louisiana, North Dakota, and Texas. The reason for this success is largely attributed to the global energy boom.  Additionally, Washington, D.C., has seen an increase employment as well. However, 23 states are not expected to reach these pre-recession levels until 2015 or later.

Areas where the housing market crashed completely (Arizona, Florida, Nevada, and California) are facing an uphill battle in increasing their employment rates. This is in turn affecting the construction industry, in which many payrolls were cut in half.  These construction jobs have yet to return to pre-recession levels, but hopefully other industries, such as travel and tourism, can help these states continue to increase jobs.