Well, at least we weren’t in Moscow.

The Russian capital is one of 17 major metropolitan areas that fared worse than the Miami area in a new study of economic performance during the recession. South Florida earned 183rd place out of 200 metropolitan areas the Brookings Institution ranked by job losses and income growth, a score that put the region just ahead of Birmingham in the United Kingdom and slightly behind Orlando.

Such a brutal score in the Brookings ranking marked a big switch for South Florida, which was a stand-out during the economic booms of the 1990s and 2000s. Between 1993 and 2007, it held the 69th slot on the Brookings global economic scorecard.

Though using hiring and income data already well documented during the U.S. recession and recovery, the Brookings report adds a global perspective. For instance, the report gave Shanghai the No. 1 slot for economic performance in 2011. With a No. 8 slot, Santiago, Chile was the closest city to Miami to land on the global Top 10 list.

There is a bright side for Miami. When Brookings ranked 200 global economies on the basis of their recovery since 2010, South Florida fared much better. It landed on the 133rd slot thanks largely to a rebound in tourism, retail and wholesale trade.

The broad decline in the U.S. real estate market dragged down much of South Florida’s score during the recession. Orlando did only a little better, taking the 180th slot during the 07-10 period. Other American cities — Detroit, Atlanta, Phoenix — joined South Florida in the bottom 20.

Las Vegas finished last in the United States at 199th place, while Valencia, Spain took the dreaded 200th slot.