New Mexico’s year-over-year wage job growth kicked back up in April with a gain of 10,100, or 1.2%. The gain was 8,900 in the year from March 2017 to March 2018.
All the growth was in the private sector; government lost a net of 500 jobs, driven by 1,500 fewer jobs in state government education, i.e., higher education.
The state government payroll has declined by more than 2,100 jobs since the budget year that ended June 30, 2011. Gov. Susana Martinez took office in January 2011, Charles Sallee, deputy director of the Legislative Finance Committee, told the Tax Research Institute conference May 10. “The size of state government has continued to shrink,” Sallee said. There have been “some efficiencies,” he said, but some critical areas such as corrections and child protective services are simply short of people with turnover rates exceeding 20% and vacancy rates of more than 10%.
The state’s unemployment rate dropped another 0.2 percentage points for the April-to-April year. This rate ties West Virginia for second highest among the states. Washington, D.C., with 5.6% unemployment, is just ahead. Alaska remains first with 7.3% unemployment. For months and months New Mexico has stood along with the second highest rate. New Mexico was one of four states with a lower unemployment for the period.
With 3,900 new wage jobs, professional and business services led the job production from April 2017 to April 2018. The past month produced 2,800 jobs.
Construction added 3,100 jobs during the year with 2,000 jobs in leisure and hospitality and 1,700 in financial activities. Even manufacturing, a perennial loser, added 1,000 jobs. Mining added 200.
Education and health services, which led the state economy as Medicaid expanded, lost 700 jobs. The other year-over-year losers are the information sector, with 1,400 fewer jobs and retail trade, down 1,200.
Metro Albuquerque and the rural counties continue to dominate job growth. The latest metro figures are for the year from March 2017 to March 2018.
The state added 8,900 jobs for the period. Metro Albuquerque provided 5,300 of the jobs, or 60%. The other three metro areas together grew a net of 600 jobs. That means the 26 rural counties added 4,200 jobs.
Metro Las Cruces (Dona Ana County) lost 1,600 jobs. Santa Fe added 600 jobs with 400 more jobs in Farmington, which has been on a long downer.
Professional and business services led the Albuquerque growth 2,200 new jobs over the year. Government added 700 jobs including 600 in state government.
Santa Fe added 500 jobs in leisure and hospitality and 400 in professional and business services. Just one private sector sector, transportation, added jobs (+100) in Las Cruces. State government lost 900 jobs.
Solid year-over-year growth continued in the Eddy and Lea counties, accounting for around two-thirds of the rural job growth for the period.
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