Many rival nations surge past the U.S. in adding new jobs

The United States economy is performing relatively well by some yardsticks — a steady increase in economic output, a surge in corporate profits and new stock market highs — but the robust job market that is a key focus now of Ben S. Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, and other Fed policy makers remains out of reach.

While several European countries have fared worse, Canada, Sweden and even Britain, which is trapped in yet another recession, have enjoyed healthier job gains than the United States. In fact, of the nine countries surveyed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only perennially-troubled Italy and Japan performed worse.

A big part of the problem, economists say, is just how big a hole the American economy fell into in the first place. Not only did the global economic downturn begin here, it also enveloped the housing market and the banking system, sectors that were largely spared in many other countries.

“Canada didn’t really have much of a housing bust,” Mr. Katz said.