It's easy to forget that America was still reeling from an economic double whammy -- the dot-com bust and the 9/11 terrorist attacks -- just a half-decade ago.
The country lost 2.2 million private-sector jobs between June 2001 and the same month a year later. Even the most prosperous markets paid the price: Dallas-Fort Worth watched 94,400 jobs slip away during that 12-month period, while Houston lost 20,700 jobs, Phoenix 13,400 and Las Vegas 4,500.
A weary nation hoped for a swift recovery, but economists warned that it might be slow and difficult.
They were in for a pleasant surprise. More than 6 million jobs have been created since June 2004, pushing the number of private-sector positions to 116.9 million by the midpoint of 2007. That's 6.4 percent above the trough of 109.9 million in June 2002.
Nowhere has the recovery been stronger than Phoenix, which is currently the nation's hottest employment market, according to a new Bizjournals study.
Source: American City Business Journals Inc.
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