Portfolio.com and bizjournals analyzed private-sector employment patterns across the country, using data from the past five years. Here are the details:

To see which states are leading and which are lagging, click here for the full story and analysis

Goal: The study’s objective was to determine the relative economic strength of the nation’s 50 states and the District of Columbia, based on short- and long-term employment trends.

Source: All indicators in this study were calculated by Portfolio.com and bizjournals, based on raw figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The first seven factors (see below) were confined to the private sector (excluding government jobs). The final two factors encompassed jobs in the private and public sectors. All statistics were collected in May of the designated years, taking a midyear snapshot of employment.

Factors: Portfolio.com and bizjournals rated each state in the nine categories below:

1. Five-year job growth by percentage (2005-10)
2. Four-year job growth by percentage (2006-10)
3. Three-year job growth by percentage (2007-10)
4. Two-year job growth by percentage (2008-10)
5. One-year job growth by percentage (2009-10)
6. Five-year job growth by raw total (2005-10)
7. One-year job growth by raw total (2009-10)
8. Unemployment rate (2010)
9. One-year change in unemployment rate (2009-10)

Availability: Selected statistics for each state are provided in chart form with this report. Space limitations prevented the publication of all data.

Scoring: Each state’s indicators were compared against the study group’s averages in all nine categories. Above-average performances received positive scores, while below-average results received negative scores. The first five factors determined 60 percent of each state’s final score, while the remaining four factors accounted for the other 40 percent. Final scores ranged from 20.36 for North Dakota to negative-20.25 for Nevada.

For the complete ranking of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, click here to download a pdf.