all 100 major labor markets have fewer private-sector jobs

Bizjournals | Every corner of America still feels the pain of the Great Recession, especially Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

All of the nation’s 100 biggest labor markets have fewer private-sector jobs today than they did three years ago, according to a new On Numbers analysis of the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The U.S. economy was flying high in April 2008, posting the biggest number of private-sector jobs for any April since the beginning of the 21st century. But the subsequent economic slide has stripped away 6.7 million jobs in three years, even taking into account the slight upswing recently reported for April 2011.

The Los Angeles area suffered the sharpest three-year decline in raw numbers. It now has 387,500 fewer private-sector positions than it did in 2008. Las Vegas was hit with the biggest drop in percentage terms, a slide of 13.8 percent in three years.

Eleven other markets have lost at least 100,000 private-sector jobs, and eight others have registered declines of more than 10 percent.

The top 100 markets account for 74.4 million private-sector positions, nearly 70 percent of the national total.

A recent On Numbers analysis of private-sector job growth in the states between 2001 and 2011 showed that only 19 states and the District of Columbia added jobs during that period.

The database below has a comparison of April 2008 and April 2011 private-sector employment figures for all 100 markets. It can be re-sorted by any column. Just click the appropriate header.

On Numbers will devote the rest of the week to a closer look at the lasting impact of the recession. Tomorrow’s entry will focus on metropolitan employment in the financial sector. The entire database is available at the bottom of the story.