"How's the economy in your hometown?"

Is the US in a recession?

"Is your state in a recession?"

According to the legend on the map in USA TODAY the red states are "In Recession"... yellow states are "At Risk" and the green states are "Expansion."

The linked map is interactive, go to USA Today and click on your state to see how your state breaks out by metropolitan area. The map for your state will tell you what communities are "In Recession", which areas are "At Risk" or those deemed "Expansion" as well. There are also white according to the map although no states are white for "Recovery." On a statewide basis in Louisiana, New Orleans gets a white dot. Looking further I found some more white dots, Bangor Maine, Biloxi Mississippi... some town in Minnesota.

Ohio

Good news for Columbus, in Ohio, Akron, Columbus and Weirton - Steubenville (I've never heard of Weirton) are green dots. Again green dots mean "Expansion."

Other Ohio cities? Only Toledo gets a red dot for "In Recession." Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton, Youngstown get yellow dots for "At Risk" as do many of the smaller cities in Ohio.

The USA

The USA Today article "How's the economy in your hometown?" from Barbara Hagenbaugh says:

"While business owners and workers in parts of the country for months have weathered recession-like conditions — job losses, home foreclosures and slumping consumer and business spending — others have been doing well. Some areas are likely to feel very little effect from the slowing economy.

That's mainly because a marked contraction in housing is leading the overall economy down this time. Housing had been instrumental in boosting many regions, particularly the Southwest, in recent years.

During the housing expansion, job growth in related industries flourished, and consumers tapped their growing home equity to buy everything from cars to couches.

But in many parts of the country, housing never boomed, so now there's not likely to be a corresponding bust. And a number of other elements of the economy are still doing well, helping to keep some regional economies above water."

Columbus is one of the areas where housing did not boom like other parts of the country.

According to the USA Today article California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida and Michigan account for a quarter of the US "nation's total economic output" and were already in recession at the beginning of this year. The article breaks down the economy by tourism, motor vehicle production, exports, agriculture, housing and automobile manufacturing and breaks each industry out by states. In example "Top 10 states with motor vehicle production as highest percentage of gross state product in 2006" Ohio was 4th... of course our neighbor Michigan was number one on that list and "Top 10 states with agriculture as the highest percentage of gross state product in 2006."