Recession Nation: 49 States at Risk

High Unemployment

David Wyss, managing director and chief economist at Standard & Poor's, said the worst problems are in the old rust belt, Michigan being the worst hit. The state now has the highest unemployment in the country.

"The recession began, really, with the housing sector and then also very quickly with automobiles," Wyss recently told ABC News. "The states that have been hardest hit have been the manufacturing states, in large part because of what happened with cars."

Related

If GM-Chrysler Merge: 40k Jobs Lost?

RSS Feed: Send News to Your Computer

Global Markets Advance as Stocks Stabilize

Click Here to Learn More About the Economy in Your Home State

Now the recession is spreading to other states where the housing bubble never burst. For instance, Wyss said, the Boeing strike was a drag to Washington state's economy and spread over into Oregon.

"The exception is the part of the country between the Mississippi River and the Rockies, which is still doing pretty well," he said. "High farm prices are good if you are in Iowa. High oil prices are good if you are in Houston."

Peter Morici, an economics professor at the University of Maryland, said a decline in manufacturing is really hurting the Rust Belt. That said, the economy still is very regional and industry-specific.

"It always varies. Even during the Great Depression, there were people that hardly felt it," Morici said. "Recessions and depressions always have varying effects on people and locations."

Agriculture is doing well because of ethanol development and a growing demand for grains by people in Asia.