(The Conference Board: New York) -- When it comes to recessions, the U.S. economy doesn’t bounce back like it used to, The Conference Board reports in a recent analysis.

By March 2011, the number of people employed in the United States was only 0.2-percent higher than in June 2009, when the recession ended, notes the report, “So Where Are the Jobs?”

The current recovery is the second slowest on record since 1961, continuing a trend that began in 1991 of weak growth in both jobs and gross domestic product (GDP). During the last three recoveries, neither GDP nor employment “roared back” as was typical after earlier downturns.

In the current recovery, some industries are doing better, others worse. “When looking across industries, the current recovery is showing some unique trends,” says Gad Levanon, associate director of macroeconomic research at The Conference Board, and author of the report. “For example, employment in construction, finance, and state or local government is not only declining, but declining much faster than in any other recovery since 1960.

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