Like Texas, the Bay State is a star performer on the employment front. Although 12 states have more workers, only four have created more jobs than Massachusetts has. Its economy has benefited from a diverse base of jobs in various industries, including technology, health-care, and higher education. If it were California's size, it would have added 261,000 jobs. Still, the state hasn't quite topped...

Melanie Stetson Freeman/The Christian Science Monitor/File
On a bulletin board at YMCA Training, Inc, in Boston in January, hired stickers are placed on the resumes of graduates who have found employment. Although Massachusetts has less than a quarter of the job base that California does, it has created nearly as many jobs since December.