Abq Leads NM Job Growth

Albuquerque leads the New Mexico economy. For the moment, anyway.
Metro Albuquerque added 5,500 wage jobs in the year between May 2015 and May 2016. (All the numbers here are not seasonally adjusted. The numbers were released Friday, the 24th, by the Department of Workforce Solutions, in the afternoon.)
That’s 2,600 more jobs than the entire state added. Albuquerque’s year-over-year percentage growth was even slightly decent at 1.3%, though behind six states in the region.
Our other three metro areas added 600 wage jobs. Las Cruces wage job total grew by 600, a modest 0.8% increase. Santa Fe, up 100 jobs, offset Farmington, which dropped 100 jobs.
The state held its fourth place national ranking in unemployment rate with 6.2% in May down from 6.6% May 2015. The job increase percentage ranked 43rd at 0.3%.
As usual, education and health services led Albuquerque’s job growth with 2,200 new wage jobs over the year, though down 500 from April. Professional and business services added 1,300 jobs.
On the strength of 900 new state government jobs, government in Albuquerque was up 700 jobs.
Manufacturing continued to erode, down 400 jobs in Albuquerque and another 300 statewide.
Education and health services led the Las Cruces growth with 900 new jobs. In Santa Fe, leisure and hospitality led with 500 jobs as visitor businesses geared up for the summer.
Government got an extended treatment from DWS this month. New Mexico’s combined share of state and local government jobs was 18.7%, good for fifth nationally. Add the feds and government employs 22.3% of New Mexicans, fourth nationally behind Washington, D.C. (31.9%), Wyoming (23.6%) and Alaska (23%). The caveat on New Mexico’s numbers is that our national laboratories are nominally in the private sector as they are managed by private firms.
The government employment percentage in New Mexico has dropped from 24.2% in 2010. Local government employment has increased by 34 jobs to 102,576 between 2006 and 2015.