Area Development
Over the past five years, just nine states-and the District of Columbia-were able to positively offset job losses with new jobs according to a new report by "On Numbers," the analysis arm of American City Business Journals.

The study analyzed data going back to the end of 2006 obtained from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The state registering the largest five-year employment gain (in raw numbers) was Texas. The Lone Star State added 451,100 nonfarm jobs between November 2006 and November 2011. Next in the "top five": Louisiana (57,000 jobs), followed by North Dakota (44,900 jobs), D.C. (27,300 jobs) and Oklahoma (23,000 jobs).

When looking at employment gains in percentage terms, North Carolina came out ahead with an increase of 12.7 percent. The next four top states: Texas (4.4 percent increase), Alaska (3.9 percent increase), D.C. (3.9 percent increase) and Wyoming (3.6 percent increase).