Sputtering job machine

That would be the L.A.-Long Beach area, which ranks well down the list of top 200 metro areas surveyed by the Milken Institute when it comes to creating and sustaining jobs. L.A. was 126th, down from 109th last year (and eighth among the 10 largest metros, down from seventh last year). High housing prices and job losses in construction and financial services have been the biggest culprits, though the Milken people aren't that wild about the L.A. economy even when looking beyond the current economic problems. Among the areas showing the biggest drops from a year ago are Oxnard (down 123 positions), Santa Ana (57 positions), and Riverside (50). Bakersfield was an odd duck in the survey, gaining five spots to 12th place - in spite of the area's housing problems. "The same industries that drove growth in the past few years are now bracing for deterioration," notes the report, though the area is expected to revive in the long term. So which city was the best-performing?

1)Provo, Utah (8th place last year)
2)Raleigh, North Carolina (10th)
3)Salt Lake City, Utah (18th)
4)Austin, Texas (20th)
5)Huntsville, Alabama (16th)
6)Wilmington, North Carolina (2nd)
7)McAllen, Texas (7th)
8)Tacoma, Washington (50th)
9)Olympia, Washington (37th)
10)Charleston, South Carolina (12th)

Here's the full report.