It will be a slow return to pre-recession job levels for Georgia’s capital city and other major metro areas in the state. That's the conclusion of a recently-released national study.

It’s mainly to do with the housing market. The boom - then bust - of the industry in Atlanta and the state is the reason many Georgia metro areas will take longer than others nationwide to recoup jobs lost.

A new report from the U.S. Conference of Mayors concludes Atlanta may not fully recover a lost 9 percent of its jobs until late in 2014.

And in the hard-hit region of northwest Georgia, Dalton and Rome aren’t projected to restore pre-recession employment until 2020 at the earliest.

The report pegs Albany, Macon, Savannah and Athens as not getting all their lost jobs back until 2015 or later.

The good news is in Warner Robins, with job loss protection provided by nearby Robins Air Force Base.

Tags: Georgia, economy, Atlanta, jobs, recession, unemployment