The Massachusetts labor force is the fastest growing in the country, according to a study released Monday by the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center.

The labor force has grown 3.2 percent so far in 2017, according to the study, the largest growth rate among all the states. Nationally, the labor force has grown by 0.5 percent so far this year.

Since the start of the recession in 2007, Massachusetts has added nearly 300,000 jobs. The state now has 9 percent more jobs than it did when the Great Recession began in December 2007. Nationally, the U.S. has 5.9 percent more jobs today than when the recession started.

"We've been very fortunate in the state of having a set of industries that have all been fast growing," said Barry Bluestone, professor of public policy at Northeastern University and senior fellow at the Boston Foundation. For example, health care, financial services, high-tech manufacturing and higher education are all strong and growing industries in the state.

According to the report, the field with the highest job growth was professional, scientific and technical services, which has a high median wage ($39 per hour). The next highest growth rates were in fields with lower median wages - social assistance ($15 per hour) and ambulatory health care ($28 per hour).

The study finds that wages are not all growing. Median household income has risen only half a percentage point since 1979, with most of the wage growth in recent years going to the highest-income earners. The main way the lowest-income workers see their wages rise is when Massachusetts increases the minimum wage.

Bluestone said that mirrors a nationwide trend of growing inequality, which has had both economic and political impacts. Bluestone argued that economic inequality was behind the rise of President Donald Trump. "Many people feel left behind in the economy and were looking for a white knight," Bluestone said.

However, the Bay State's median wages still remain among the highest in the country.

The Budget and Policy Center, a liberal-leaning think tank, previously found that Massachusetts has the most educated workforce in the country, and education is closely correlated with wages. Education and wages have become increasingly tied together over the last several decades as jobs were lost in fields like manufacturing or coal and oil extraction, where someone without a college education could earn a good wage.

"Wages more than ever are correlated with education," Bluestone said. "Therefore, the education young people get is a very strong determinant of their future earnings."