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Ten years of wandering in the jobs desert

Well, it's official, the Albuquerque metro area's economy has gone a full 10 years mired in pathetic job growth – a full 10 years of failing to recover from the recession and wandering in the jobs desert.

As of December 31, 2017, the area still hadn't regained all the jobs it lost during the recession. The area's jobs numbers peaked at 401,700 in December of 2007. As of Dec. 31, 2017, the area had 397,400 jobs, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In the year that ended Dec. 31, the area gained 4,400 jobs for a 1.1 percent growth rate, but again, it wasn't enough to get back to the pre-recession jobs starting line.

Tucson is the only other major metro area in the region that still hasn't regained all the jobs it lost during the recession.

Here's a look at other metro areas in the region, their job growth in the 12 months that ended Dec. 31, and the month and year they finally regained all the jobs they had lost during the recession.

Albuquerque: +1.1%: Not yet

Austin: +2.9%; October, 2010

Colorado Springs: +1.6; May, 2014

Denver: +2.0; November, 2012

El Paso: +2.2%; November, 2011

Las Vegas: +3.1%; November, 2015

Oklahoma City: +1.6%; March, 2012

Salt Lake City: +2.1%, October, 2012

Tucson: +0.5%; Not yet

And here's what Albuquerque's 10 years of wandering in the jobs desert looks like on a graph:

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