According the the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions, New Mexico’s unemployment stood at 6.6%, far below the national average.
New Mexico
New Mexico’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.6 percent in August 2011, down from 6.7 percent in July and 8.5 percent a year ago. The national unemployment rate remained at 9.1 percent. The decline in New Mexico’s unemployment rate for August was the sixth in a series since the rate peaked at 8.7 percent at the start of the year. This drop was again the result of workers leaving the labor force rather than an increase in employment.
A preliminary analysis of unemployment data shows that if the labor force participation rate (LFPR) had remained steady at pre-recession levels of around 63 percent, the measured unemployment rate would have continued a slightly increasing trend in recent months instead of posting the sharp drop shown by the official numbers.
The rate of over-the-year job growth, comparing August 2011 with August 2010, was 0.8 percent, representing an increase of 6,500 jobs. We have now reported three straight months of over-the-year job growth, following a 32-month period of job losses. August data continued the improving trend with further gradual strengthening in many industries. Even though some industries are still holding on to previous losses, the extent of those losses is shrinking in many cases.
The recovery likely started a while back, but lack of significant momentum left the state’s job growth rate close to the zero line for over a year. A number of industries are now cautiously adding jobs, but there is still evidence of restraint and the recovery is slow. The current job situation includes seven growing and five declining industries, with one that is unchanged.
The educational & health services industry added 7,800 jobs, far more than for any other industry, growing at a 6.7 percent rate since this time last year. This industry seems to always do well, slowing down during recessions, but never turning negative and losing jobs. As the largest private-sector industry, educational & health services’ consistent growth provides stability for the economy as a whole. Retail trade has made a comeback from previous losses to now report 3,800 additional jobs, while wholesale trade posted gains of 1,500 jobs. The mining industry reported another gain, up 1,800 jobs, following 14 months of losses that ended in 2010. Earlier losses had been as high as 5,000 jobs.
The financial activities industry posted a gain of 2,200 jobs following three years of job losses that ended earlier this year. Leisure & hospitality added 300 jobs, up 0.3 percent, while transportation, warehousing & utilities gained 200 jobs, up 0.9 percent.
The information industry reported employment levels that were unchanged from last year. This follows many months of reporting negative numbers.
The remaining four private-sector industries each recorded declining employment. The professional & business services industry reported employment that was down 6,100 jobs from last year. Construction was down 2,800 jobs over the year, which is especially disappointing when considering the jobs previously lost since 2008, and the miscellaneous other services category lost 500. The manufacturing industry reported employment levels that were down 100 jobs from last year, continuing the mixed performance from earlier this year and following previous steep losses. As the chart below shows, manufacturing employment has taken devastating losses over a sustained period.
Government employment registered a net decline of 1,600 jobs from the year-ago total, with job losses reported mainly at the local level. Local government employment dropped 4,100 jobs since this time last year, likely due to different seasonal trends. Federal employment was also down, but just by 100 jobs. State government reported 2,600 additional jobs compared to the same month a year ago.
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