50-State Rankings for February 2020-March 2022

State Job Recovery Trends as of March 2022

South Dakota (+0.6%), Massachusetts (+0.6%), Maine (+0.6%), New Hampshire (+0.5%), and New Jersey (+0.4%) led March job growth in percentage gains.
California (+60,300), Texas (+30,100), New York (+28,100), Massachusetts (+21,000) and Ohio (+18,300) had the most March job creation in absolute terms.

The US lost 22 million jobs from February 2020-April 2020.
The US is currently 1.6 million jobs below pre-pandemic levels, a 1.0% net decline since February 2020.

South Dakota and Indiana became the twelfth and thirteenth states to exceed their pre-pandemic jobs count in March 2022.
States that have crossed the jobs recovery finish line embrace policies that attract families and businesses, including a lighter approach during the pandemic, lower taxes, fewer economic restrictions, and a lower cost of living.
State tax competition is especially fierce in the new era of remote work. In addition, taxpayers cannot write off their state and local taxes against their federal returns.
Recovery drags on slowly in states that imposed harsh pandemic restrictions and have high tax and regulatory burdens, especially states like New York that raised taxes during the pandemic.