It was one of the hardest-hit areas during the recession but now, several years later, it looks like the economic climate across Elkhart County is getting a lot brighter.

According to our reporting partners at the Elkhart Truth, the Elkhart/Goshen metro area ranked 8th on 24/7 WallStreet.com's list of American cities adding the most jobs since the depth of the recession.

The site combed through data for 374 metropolitan areas from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

They considered the number and percentage change in the labor force and employment numbers between June of 2009, near the peak of the recession, and June of this year.

During that 3 year period, the report found that the percentage of people without a job in Elkhart decreased by 51.1 percent.

That's the second largest drop of all metro areas surveyed.

And while the area's unemployment rate is still at 9 percent. that's down a whopping 18.2 percent in June of 2009.

A couple of other cities in Indiana and Michigan made the top ten.

Columbus ranked second on the list and Holland-Grand Haven came in 7th.