U.S. Regains Private Jobs Lost In Recession, But So What?

WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy has reached a milestone: It has finally regained all the private-sector jobs it lost during the Great Recession.

Yet it took a painfully slow six years, and unemployment remains stubbornly high at 6.7 percent.

The comeback figures were contained in a government report Friday that showed a solid if unspectacular month of job growth in March.

Businesses and nonprofits shed 8.8 million jobs during the 2007-09 recession; they have since hired 8.9 million. But because the population has grown since the big downturn, the economy is still millions of jobs short of where it should be by now.

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