Job Losses: February 2009

In February New Mexico had its second best month for year-over-year job losses in 48 years. The 1.7% wage job loss between February 1960 and February 1961 beat the 1.4% (12,200 job) loss between February 2008 and February 2009. The Department of Workforce Services summarizes, "This (the national situation) all means that the New Mexico economy is doing about as well as can be expected under the circumstances, but recent performance is worse than we have experienced in a very long time."
Two of the 13 major job groups gained jobs during the year. Education and health services was up 4,500 with 2,600 new jobs, or 58% of the growth in metro Albuquerque. Government was up 2,400 with 79% of the growth, or 1,900 jobs, coming in Albuquerque. That combined gain means the total losses came to 19,100 jobs in all the other industries, the ones in the private sector. The government gains, DWS says, tended to come in tribally owned casinos, hardly the basis for a dynamic economy.
Metro Albuquerque has lost wage jobs since October 2008. The February year-over-year loss was 4,800 jobs or 1.2%.
The Las Cruces and Santa Fe metro areas bucked the trend by adding wage jobs between February 2008 and February 2009, though very few in both cases.
Las Cruces was up 0.3% or 200 jobs. Santa Fe added 300 jobs, a 0,5% gain. In Santa Fe, the film industry dragged the information sector to a 200-job loss for the year.
With an eight person increase in unemployment (from 199 to 207), Mora County joined Luna County to kae it two counties with more than 10% unemployment. Grant County, with 8% unemployment, is in third place in unemployment rate ranking. Copper ming layoff have more than doubled Grant County unemployment in the past year.