Job Creation Index Holds Steady

The job creation index held steady in September for the fifth month in a row at plus 33, the highest score recorded since Gallup began tracking this metric in January 2008. The index matched the post-recession high first reached in May. The index bottomed out at minus 5 in April 2009 in the midst of the Great Recession. The index stayed relatively stable for the last two years, climbing to plus 30 in September 2014 and remaining between plus 27 and plus 33 ever since.

In September, all regions of the U.S. had a job creation index score of plus 30 or above. The Midwest led the way with a score of plus 35, virtually equivalent to the region's score over the last two months. The West and South had index scores of plus 34 and plus 33, respectively, while the East had a slightly lower score of plus 30.

Reports of net hiring in the West reached a regional eight-year high of plus 36 in July. This strong result mirrors robust job creation numbers in California, the nation's most populous state. In August, California employers created an estimated 63,100 jobs, representing 42 percent of the nation's job growth that month. No region has surpassed a Job Creation Index score of plus 37, recorded in the Midwest in June, since Gallup began tracking this measure. All regions are performing better on the index than they were prior to January 2008, before the depths of the Great Recession.