New Mexico Unemployment Stats and News
New Mexico Unemployment Stats
Current and Historical Unemployment Stats Analysis
The unemployment rate in New Mexico is higher than the national average of 5.0, and often the worst in the nation as it has climbed as high as 6.7 percent in December of 2015. Job growth has only been at 1.7 percent through 2016 and in many months, New Mexico recognized more job losses than gains.
Any increase in the number of jobs available is strictly in education, healthcare, and hospitality. As with the rest of the nation, healthcare has continued to add jobs to a struggling market, but many positions in this industry are difficult to fill due to the lack of qualified workers. All other industries that historically employ individuals with little technical skills, such as mining and manufacturing, continue to decrease rapidly. While the construction industry booms in neighboring states like Texas, in New Mexico the unemployment rate for the construction industry continues to increase to a national high of 8.9 percent. This is much higher than many other states in the nation, including Idaho, which currently has a 1.9 percent unemployment rate in their construction industry.
The unemployment rate appears also to be unevenly distributed with some counties at 4.1 percent (Union County) and others at a staggering 11.5 percent (Luna County). The disproportion appears to be related to the communities that are economically driven by the oil and gas industry.
Why Unemployment Stats Are Valuable
New Mexico Unemployment Stats Resources
If you would like more information on New Mexico’s unemployment statistics, the following resources are available:
- Local Area Unemployment Statistics - Contains the unemployment rate for the nation, state, and local areas. This data is used widely as a public source of accurate information.
- Current Employment Statistics - Contains wages and salaries by industry across the state and local area.
- Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages - Provides quarterly snapshots of the wage and salaries by industry across the state and local area.
- Business Employment Dynamics (BED) - Includes information on the number of jobs available at each private employer in the state to allow insight into growth or closures.
- Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) - Provides wages and unemployment rates by occupations within the state.
- Employment Projections - Provides projected wages and unemployment rates by industries and occupations within the state and region for the next ten years.
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https://www.dws.state.nm.us/Labor-Market-Information/Data-and-Statistics/Economic-Data
New Mexico Unemployment News
New Mexico Unemployment in the News
Due to the increase in New Mexico’s unemployment rate, the U.S. Department of Labor recently announced that close to half a million dollars in federal funding would be provided to the state through grants in hopes of providing more beneficial programs and economic support. Because the state relies so dependently on industries that are natural resource dependent with prices that quickly fluctuate, New Mexico is frequently more vulnerable to economic shifts in those sectors.
Also, another $800,000 in grant money was awarded to pilot an apprenticeship program in the manufacturing industry. The goal will be to place qualified job seekers in the underserved populations into an 18-month training program that will provide all certifications and training needed to address any competency gaps. The result will be a workforce with a more diverse skill set better enabled for higher-paying jobs.
Another factor that is likely contributing to the declining economy is the lack of investment in smaller businesses. The current focus has been providing economic incentives to larger companies in attempts to keep them in the area without much improvement. This is most likely due to high crime rates, but New Mexico does have a relatively educated workforce that could blossom in a small business environment if it was supported appropriately.
Sources:
https://www.dws.state.nm.us/Unemployment-Insurance/UI-Information/How-Do-I
https://www.dws.state.nm.us/About-Us
https://www.dws.state.nm.us/Labor-Market-Information/Publications/Monthly-News-Release
https://www.dws.state.nm.us/Labor-Market-Information/Data-and-Statistics/Economic-Data
https://www.dws.state.nm.us/News/Latest-News