The 100 metros, taken as a group, had 76.31 million private-sector jobs as of June 2009. That’s 69 percent of the nation’s 110.13 million positions.

Rounding out bizjournals’ list of America’s 10 strongest labor market—in order from sixth through 10th place—are Des Moines, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Omaha, and Little Rock.

It’s no surprise that the 10 leaders on this year’s list all come from the nation’s midsection.

The recent bursting of the real estate bubble has dramatically hurt states at the opposite ends of the country, especially Florida, Arizona, Nevada, and California. But the extreme aspects of the recession have been tempered in regions with more affordable housing, such as Texas and its Southwestern neighbors, the Midwest, and the mid-South.

The result has been a dramatic upheaval in bizjournals’ labor-market rankings. Riverside-San Bernardino, California, which was No. 4 in the 2007 midyear standings, is now 96th, an astonishing drop of 92 places in two years. Nearly as bad are the 83 place declines by Phoenix (from first in 2007 to 84th now) and Boise, Idaho (from third to 86th).

Unassuming, historically low-growth markets have headed in the other direction. Rochester, New York, which was 89th two years ago, now ranks 21st. Rochester has lost 1.7 percent of its jobs during the past year, leading to an unemployment rate of 8.4 percent. (Both figures seem positively sunny when compared to Riverside-San Bernardino’s 7.5 percent loss and 13.7 percent unemployment.)

Other sharp upswings are 67 places by New Haven, Connecticut (from 92nd in 2007 to 25th now), 64 places by Columbus (from 90th to 26th) and 57 places by Syracuse, New York (from 85th to 28th).

The bottom of the list is anchored by Detroit, just as it was in 2008 and 2007. Detroit’s economic reliance on domestic automakers has been especially unfortunate in recent months, given the catastrophic financial losses suffered by Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors.

A total of 171,200 private-sector jobs have disappeared from the Detroit market since mid-2008, a one-year loss of 10.0 percent. Its five-year drop, dating back to 2004, is even worse, 15.6 percent. Both rates of decline are bleaker than those in any other market, as is Detroit’s unemployment rate of 17.1 percent.

The rest of the bottom 10 is a blend of markets from California, the South, and the industrial Midwest. Toledo, in 99th place, is just a step ahead of Detroit. Then in ascending order: Reno, Nevada; Bradenton-Sarasota, Florida; Riverside-San Bernardino; Youngstown, Ohio; Sacramento; Los Angeles; Lansing, Michigan; and Greensboro, North Carolina.