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- Total gain: 9,800 (15.4% increase)
- May 2021 employment: 73,500
- May 2020 employment: 63,700

Kentucky showed booming economic growth in the first six months of 2021. Private-sector businesses accounted for 50 location and expansion projects that represent around , according to an announcement in mid-June from Gov. Andy Beshear.

Semi-trailer and equipment manufacturer is investing $12 million in its first U.S. facility in a quarter-century in Bowling Green, a move expected to create 288 full-time jobs. Further, businesses throughout Kentucky announced in July plans to this year alone.

To further incentivize people to get jobs amid a worker shortage, Gov. Andy Beshear on June 24 announced a offering a $1,500 bonus to up to 15,000 Kentuckians on unemployment to rejoin the workforce on or before July 30.

- Total gain: 72,400 (15.5% increase)
- May 2021 employment: 539,900
- May 2020 employment: 467,500

Michigan’s recovery from widespread unemployment during the COVID-19 pandemic has been among the fastest nationwide. Even during the pandemic, some workers in the Grand Rapids metro area were working harder than ever before as in the area to meet demand during shutdowns. Many of those hires represented people who were laid off during the pandemic.

Meanwhile, four restaurants in Grand Rapids—Long Road Distillers, The Mitten Brewing Co., Two Scotts Barbecue and The Peoples Cider Co.—in June to attract more workers to fill open roles. In addition to higher wages, other companies throughout the state are also using signing bonuses and even offering to cover college tuition payments to .

In nearby Grand Rapids, manufacturing company for its new headquarters in Walker that is expected to create around 160 lucrative, permanent jobs for skilled laborers, tradesmen, and welders.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer visited Grand Rapids July 15 to announce that a to increase employment opportunities for Michiganders and support the state’s registered apprenticeship expansion efforts.

- Total gain: 9,300 (15.6% increase)
- May 2021 employment: 69,000
- May 2020 employment: 59,700

California enjoyed the statewide, according to BLS data released July 16.

Napa County saw its by more than half between June 2020 and 2021, a sure sign of recovery following shutdowns last year. Recovery here has come more quickly than that following the Great Recession more than a decade ago, but and the workforce remains smaller overall than this time in 2019.

- Total gain: 8,000 (15.8% increase)
- May 2021 employment: 58,500
- May 2020 employment: 50,500

Located in Muskegon, announced in July that it was raising its minimum wage for food and beverage associates, lifeguards, and ride operators to $15 an hour. Park officials there, along with other employers throughout the state and country, have tried various tactics to attract workers, from raising wages and to hosting job fairs.

Muskegon Public Schools hosted a “” in early July for employers throughout western Michigan, attracting almost two dozen businesses with numerous open positions.

- Total gain: 9,200 (17.0% increase)
- May 2021 employment: 63,300
- May 2020 employment: 54,100

In July, , a company planning the first large-scale offshore wind farm in the U.S. off the coast of Massachusetts, signed a project labor agreement guaranteeing 500 jobs to union workers in the state, among thousands others that will be created with the project. The company will use the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal as Vineyard Wind’s onshore staging ground.

New Bedford will also be home base for an offshore-wind job-training center, utilizing an empty, 3,000-square-foot former fish house for the eventual .

In addition, the Massachusetts House and Senate in July unanimously approved a bill Gov. Charlie Baker then signed into law that will inject of local roads and bridges throughout the state, attracting workers across the commonwealth.

- Total gain: 7,800 (17.4% increase)
- May 2021 employment: 52,600
- May 2020 employment: 44,800

​​U.S. Rep. in mid-July to discuss worker shortages and other challenges facing the business community there. During her visit, she urged people living in the area to get vaccinated for COVID-19 to ensure a seamless re-entry to the workforce as additional unemployment benefits are set to expire the benefit week ending Sept. 5.

New York as a whole had the over the last year, according to BLS data.

- Total gain: 79,300 (17.4% increase)
- May 2021 employment: 536,200
- May 2020 employment: 456,900

Erie County, New York, home to the Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara metro area, has a than the rest of New York, according to BLS data. The unemployment rate in the region has steadily improved since the coronavirus pandemic.

In nearby Lockport, to attract potential employees to fill nearly 100 jobs as the company expands its workforce there to meet the demand for vehicles. The area’s workers will also find more support by a burgeoning program, “Building Innovation for Equitable Child Care,” launching at the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus along with eight other metros nationwide to analyze child care demand and mitigate costs for a location at or close to the medical campus. The program is paid for by Melinda Gates’ program Pivotal Ventures.

- Total gain: 17,400 (17.8% increase)
- May 2021 employment: 115,200
- May 2020 employment: 97,800

Connecticut added , according to BLS data, marking a 63% rebound from the in March and April 2020 from COVID-19. The job growth—less than half that of May—is indicative of the inconsistent job growth seen across much of the U.S.

As with many regions, employment gains throughout the Norwich-New London-Westerly metro area is largely made up of  or anew to make up for hiring freezes and layoffs in the spring of 2020. Local hires this summer, for example, largely represent recreation departments bringing workers on after the industry spent 2020 understaffed or inactive.

The Westerly-based Ocean Community Chamber of Commerce helped to sponsor a for employers struggling to find workers and workers who have been unable to find a good match for a job. That fair represents a burgeoning collaboration between the Westerly Economic Development Commission and the Stonington Economic Development Commission.

More help for workers may be coming in the form of , with a potential extension of Shore Line East rail service to Westerly, along with a new rail route between New London and Norwich among other improvements. The bill, which already passed in the legislative session, has widespread support among residents.

- Total gain: 9,500 (17.9% increase)
- May 2021 employment: 62,600
- May 2020 employment: 53,100

Maui—along with the rest of Hawaii—was among the most economically compromised locations during COVID-19 as the while would-be travelers sheltered in place. While reversing unemployment numbers indicates a recovering economy, popular tourist spots throughout the state now report being totally overwhelmed by visitors.

Maui County Mayor Michael Victorino in late June asked airline executives to voluntarily curb the number of flights to Kahului, where he said the . Throughout the metro, as with the rest of Hawaii, officials have scrambled to secure alternative ground transportation for tourists as rental car shortages persisted and other modes of transportation were overrun.

- Total gain: 9,200 (18.4% increase)
- May 2021 employment: 59,300
- May 2020 employment: 50,100

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in early June unveiled the . That initiative offers grants to small businesses looking to expand hiring and increase wages for potential employees, and seeks to increase access to child care for parents returning to work.

Job growth continues to improve throughout the state. in March announced it would expand operations for its TSlots line of aluminum structural framing systems with a leased facility in Niles, spelling job opportunities for a range of workers with various skill levels.

- Total gain: 12,700 (18.7% increase)
- May 2021 employment: 80,700
- May 2020 employment: 68,000

Saginaw is slated to receive a transformative as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Allowable spending for that money includes mitigating lost revenue due to COVID-19 and widespread infrastructure investments from broadband to water and sewer. The funding is expected to create a surge in jobs for the area.

Saginaw saw a of 5.8% between 2010 and 2020 due to people moving out of the area. The poverty rate is 19%, representing the 33rd highest out of 384 metro areas. Businesses are working to draw workers, such as set to open in September, but businesses are struggling here and nationwide to fill low-paying jobs.

- Total gain: 8,800 (19.4% increase)
- May 2021 employment: 54,200
- May 2020 employment: 45,400

Home to a university and bustling downtown area of locally owned businesses, turned into a ghost town during the pandemic. As the town comes back from the brink, jobs have been largely restored throughout the area. The town was among the top three towns to live in Pennsylvania’s northeast region by Livability.com.

East Stroudsburg was also ranked #4 for the . The area’s is that of first-line supervisors of police and detectives, who enjoy an annual mean salary of nearly $100,000.

- Total gain: 27,100 (19.9% increase)
- May 2021 employment: 163,200
- May 2020 employment: 136,100

Employers more college grads this year than last in Salisbury and surrounding areas, underscoring optimism over a recovering economy. College graduates who missed out on internships and other opportunities during the pandemic have struggled to find their first jobs in the workforce.

Salisbury, offering city amenities with a small-town feel, was ranked the 13th-fastest-growing location in the U.S. in 2020–2021, according to census data. was up 7.19% between 2014 and 2018.

- Total gain: 318,500 (20.1% increase)
- May 2021 employment: 1,905,900
- May 2020 employment: 1,587,400

To boost small businesses and reinvigorate neighborhoods, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan in May outlined the "" plan to allocate $400 million in coronavirus relief funding to improve and create park spaces, increase public safety, increase internet access, and to offer assistance to small businesses—in part by doubling Motor City Match grants.

Motor City Match, a program designed to reward small-business investments in lower-income commercial corridors, functions as a partnership between the City of Detroit, the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, the Economic Development Corporation of the City of Detroit, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In the last year the program has been .

Detroit’s youth summer jobs program, now in its seventh year, pairs young workers with area businesses to work on a number of different projects. Participants in the initiative, called Grow Detroit's Young Talent, can earn up to $1,800. This year’s participants have the opportunity to work with to help renovate the Michigan Central Station and other properties to make the area more pedestrian-friendly.

- Total gain: 5,800 (20.3% increase)
- May 2021 employment: 34,400
- May 2020 employment: 28,600

Throughout Adams County, where Gettysburg is located, the economy is centered around tourism and agriculture—two industries that took heavy hits during the coronavirus pandemic.

As social-distancing guidelines and other restrictions have been lifted, with visitors flocking back to the popular tourist destination. Federal funding announced in April to increase agricultural sales in Pennsylvania included $10,905​​ to launch the that will give visitors a digital pass to farms and farmers markets throughout the county.

- Total gain: 165,800 (21.4% increase)
- May 2021 employment: 940,700
- May 2020 employment: 774,900

More than  due to COVID-19 and a year-over-year employment rate decline of 12.3%. Throughout Nevada, the leisure and hospitality industry has added the most jobs in recent months, largely a condition of tourism picking back up and social-distance restrictions easing.

Vice President Kamala Harris visited Las Vegas in July as part of the Biden Administration’s “America’s Back Together” tour. At that event, held at the Carpenters International Training Center, Rep. Steven Horsford touted the American Rescue Plan as .

- Total gain: 18,100 (21.6% increase)
- May 2021 employment: 101,900
- May 2020 employment: 83,800

Barnstable is among five Massachusetts counties slated to receive more than from the federal government’s American Rescue Plan Act.

To help boost tourism to the area and offer a lifeline to an arts sector cratered by the pandemic, the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism awarded $300,000 in grants to 14 organizations in and around Cape Cod. Among this funding is $71,250 for the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, which is spearheading a digital marketing campaign called “” That effort, in partnership with the town of Barnstable and the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, seeks to attract visitors to the region by highlighting cultural opportunities.

- Total gain: 24,600 (23.0% increase)
- May 2021 employment: 131,400
- May 2020 employment: 106,800

Michigan is one of four states in the process of launching the , a program that connects people transitioning out of the criminal justice system with jobs in the restaurant industry. Plans are also underway for an additional job skills program called Hospitality Opportunities for People (re)Entering Society.

In Flint, around 70 new jobs are anticipated in the coming years as auto parts supply for creating tooling integration for auto manufacturers.

- Total gain: 34,800 (40.5% increase)
- May 2021 employment: 120,800
- May 2020 employment: 86,000

The saw a nearly 16% employment decline last year, the third-largest in the U.S. Two-thirds of job losses were in the leisure and hospitality sector, which also includes casinos.

The region’s rebound works mostly to reverse that staggering drop as casinos began operating at full capacity early in the summer season after forced, months-long closures that were followed by limited reopenings with numerous rules to protect workers and visitors.

In the ​​​​summer 2021 issue of the , Oliver Cooke, associate professor of economics at Stockton University, said “Perhaps most important to the regional economy’​​s near-term outlook will be the direction its casino industry takes.”

- Total gain: 13,400 (41.1% increase)
- May 2021 employment: 46,000
- May 2020 employment: 32,600

Like Atlantic City, the Ocean City metro area, particularly its leisure and hospitality sector, saw dramatic job losses. Ocean City is set to receive more than from the federal government.

Hiring surges in late spring and early summer have bolstered jobs numbers, particularly in tourist communities like Ocean City. The area’s , down 24.6% in the same month in 2020. During COVID-19, the highest rate of was 27.9% in April 2020.

This story originally appeared on  and was produced and distributed in partnership with �鶹ԭ�� Studio.