New Housing Starts & Employment by State

I doubt anyone would argue that 2008 and 2009 were good years for our economy. According to The Adversity Index from MSNBC.com and Moody’s Economy.com, October of 2008 marked the first month every state in the nation was in a recession and all 50 states stayed in a recession until August 2009.

North Dakota was the only state that had increases in employment (+.95) and single-family housing starts (+30.64) from August 2008 to August 2009; all other states showed declines in at least one of the two categories.

To highlight more bad news (as if that needs to be done), the foreclosure rate in 2008 was 1.8%, which was an 81.2% increase from 2007; so far, 2009 isn’t fairing much better. Data released in August showed that 1 in every 357 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing; 6 states (NV, AZ, CA, FL, IL & MI) were home to more than 60% of all foreclosure activity in August.

The good news is that the Adversity Index mentioned above shows that the recession has ended in 79 out of 384 metro areas and that things are looking better in 270 areas. Basically, according to MSNBC.com and Moody’s Economy.com, things are starting to look better in 349 or 90% of the nation’s metro areas.

Here’s a list of Housing Starts and Employment Stats by State

(Year-over-Year 8/08 – 8/09)

Washington: Single-family Housing Starts, -17.2% | Employment, -3.73%

Oregon: Single-family Housing Starts, -24.65% | Employment, -5.6%

California: Single-family Housing Starts, -21.05% | Employment, -5.04%

Georgia: Single-family Housing Starts, -40.98% | Employment, -5.51%

Florida: Single-family Housing Starts, -33.77% | Employment, -4.95%

North Carolina: Single-family Housing Starts, -37.82% | Employment, -5.15%

South Carolina: Single-family Housing Starts, -35.03% | Employment, -4.24%

Nevada: Single-family Housing Starts, -40.45% | Employment, -6.38%

Arizona: Single-family Housing Starts, -21.23% | Employment, -7.41%

Utah: Single-family Housing Starts, +4.27% | Employment, -4.16%

Colorado: Single-family Housing Starts, -32.4% | Employment, -4.5%

Montana: Single-family Housing Starts, -18.02% | Employment, -1.46%

Idaho: Single-family Housing Starts, -15.35% | Employment, -4.97%

Wyoming: Single-family Housing Starts, -23.19% | Employment, -3.44%

New Mexico: Single-family Housing Starts, -13.57% | Employment, -3.49%

North Dakota: Single-family Housing Starts, +30.64% | Employment, +.95%

South Dakota: Single-family Housing Starts, -14.26% | Employment, -1.43%

Nebraska: Single-family Housing Starts, 1.73% | Employment, -1.59%

Kansas: Single-family Housing Starts, 14.78% | Employment, -3.66%

Oklahoma: Single-family Housing Starts, -16.23% | Employment, -2.35%

Texas: Single-family Housing Starts, -19.11% | Employment, -2.43%

Minnesota: Single-family Housing Starts, -23% | Employment, -4.2%

Iowa: Single-family Housing Starts, +3.04% | Employment, -3.09%

Missouri: Single-family Housing Starts, -22.04% | Employment, -2.78%

Arkansas: Single-family Housing Starts, -22.19% | Employment, -2.21%

Louisiana: Single-family Housing Starts, -7.75% | Employment, -1.02%

Wisconsin: Single-family Housing Starts, -19.05% | Employment, -3.96%

Illinois: Single-family Housing Starts, -33.64% | Employment, -4.87%

Kentucky: Single-family Housing Starts, -16.44% | Employment, -4.53%

Tennessee: Single-family Housing Starts, -27.15% | Employment, -4.34%

Mississippi: Single-family Housing Starts, -22.77% | Employment, -2.58%

Michigan: Single-family Housing Starts, -31.29% | Employment, -7.75%

Indiana: Single-family Housing Starts, -20.51% | Employment, -5.5%

Alabama: Single-family Housing Starts, -21.54% | Employment, -4.72%

Ohio: Single-family Housing Starts, -35.35% | Employment, -4.89%

West Virginia: Single-family Housing Starts, -27.51% | Employment, -3.29%

Virginia: Single-family Housing Starts, -17.61% | Employment, -2.81%

Maryland: Single-family Housing Starts, -9.61% | Employment, -2.26%

Pennsylvania: Single-family Housing Starts, -21.09% | Employment, -3.16%

New Jersey: Single-family Housing Starts, -20.84% | Employment, -3.16%

New York: Single-family Housing Starts, -23.82% | Employment, -2.25%

Connecticut: Single-family Housing Starts, -27.97% | Employment, -4.02%

Massachusetts: Single-family Housing Starts, -13.3% | Employment, -3.24%

Vermont: Single-family Housing Starts, – 39.59% | Employment, -3.99%

New Hampshire: Single-family Housing Starts, -33.49% | Employment, -2.54%

Maine: Single-family Housing Starts, -27.75% | Employment, -3.36%

Alaska:Single-family Housing Starts, -2.82% | Employment, 0%

Hawaii: Single-family Housing Starts, -17% | Employment, -3.14%

District of Columbia: Single-family Housing Starts, -44.06% | Employment, +.36

Delaware: Single-family Housing Starts, -9.07% | Employment, -5.28%

Sources:
Recession ends in 79 metros, index shows – Source of housing starts and employment data above
Foreclosures on the rise (07 – 08) – www.usatoday.com
Foreclosure Activity Remains Near Record Level in August – www.realtytrac.com

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