Ohio is struggling to recover jobs lost during the recession.

The state had about 5 percent fewer jobs in May than it did five years earlier, before the recession began, according to the latest federal data. That ranked Ohio 40th in the nation in terms of reclaiming lost jobs.

But Ohio is not alone. Only nine states have more jobs than they did five years ago. North Dakota was first, increasing employment by 16.7 percent, followed by Texas at 4 percent and Alaska at 2.6 percent.

Nevada finished last, with 12.5 percent fewer jobs than in May 2007. Florida was 49th with a 9 percent decrease and Arizona 48th with a 8.4 percent loss in jobs.

In May 2007, more than 5.4 million people were employed in Ohio, compared with 5.2 million this past May. That meant the state lost 277,400 jobs during that period.

The national recession began in December 2007 and officially ended in June 2009.

Economists and others who study labor trends say the five-year comparison might not tell the whole story.

Paul LaPorte, a U.S. Labor Department economist in Chicago, said other measures show that Ohio's employment picture has improved.

For example, he said, compare December 2009, when the state reached its post-recession employment low at about 5 million, with May 2012. This shows an increase in employment of more than 3.1 percent.

Unemployment rates also show that Ohio has recovered jobs, he said.

"The unemployment rate -- although higher than it was in May '07 at 5.6 percent -- has dropped considerably since peaking at 10.6 percent from July '09 to January '10," LaPorte said. In May, it was 7.3 percent."

So what offers a more accurate picture of the labor force in Ohio? Being down by 277,400 jobs since May 2007? Or down 5.1 percent? Or gaining more than 3.1 percent in employment since a post recession low?

"It depends on how you want to interpret these numbers," LaPorte said. "From the low point, there has been growth, but if you look at the five-year period between May 2007 and May 2012, that statement is true as well."

Veronica Kalich, a Baldwin Wallace University economics professor, said one has to look at several economic factors at different time frames to determine how a state is faring.

"I think it is a little bit dangerous to make measurements from one month to the exact same month five years later because everybody could be experiencing things differently," she said. "Not every state hits its peak or valley at the same time."

Even other comparisons of 2007 and 2012 may offer different results, Kalich said.

In 2007, Ohio ranked 46th with an unemployment rate of 5.6 percent for the year. (The national rate was 4.6 percent.) In May 2012, Ohio ranked 24th with a 7.3 percent jobless rate. (The national rate was 8.2 percent.)

Ohio had the nation's second-largest increase in employment in May -- 19,600 jobs, more than a quarter of the jobs created nationwide.

But everything is relative. The recovery has been weak, and Ohio has suffered the challenges.

While manufacturing has fueled the recovery, the state has suffered losses in finance and insurance, said George Zeller, an economic research analyst in Cleveland. Increasing job loss in the local government sector is also cause for concern, he said.

Zeller said Ohio had a net gain of 66,191 jobs but lost 12,200 in local government through the third quarter of 2011, the most recent data available for the complete count of jobs in Ohio. The state also lost 3,275 jobs in the federal government and 948 in state jobs.

"This is by far the largest contribution to our slow rate of recovery in Ohio," he said. "The amount of losses is local government will increase. Layoffs in the Cleveland and Akron school districts are not included in these figures."

Kalich said it is hard to predict how long it will take Ohio to recoup the 277,400 jobs. Here, and nationally, job growth has resembled more of a crawl than a sprint.

"We're not stagnant in terms of job gains," she said. "It is just slow."

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