While recent news has shown New Mexico is adding jobs, a report from Stateline at the Pew Charitable Trusts shows that New Mexico is still far from average when it comes to filling the hole dug by the recession.
The report shows that since the worst employment numbers during the recession, New Mexico is among the states with the least amount of jobs recovery. The report cites federal data.
Ten states (Alabama, Arkansas, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and West Virginia) have seen total employment grow 5 percent or less compared to their lowest points, according to the analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
On average, employment has increased 8 percent among all 50 states and the District of Columbia since each one’s individual nadir.
While the average is eight percent, New Mexico’s recovery lags behind at just 3.77 percent since September of 2010. That is a total of 30,100 jobs in four and a half years, up until March of 2015.
North Dakota, predictably, leads the pack when it comes to job creation since the worst of the recession. Since April of 2009, North Dakota’s job growth is an astounding 28.86 percent. This is largely thanks to a huge oil boom in the state because of increased hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
The April 2009 low point for North Dakota was the earliest low point for employment of any state. New Mexico’s low point of September 2010 was among the three latest low points for employment among all the states.
In all, 37 states hit their low point between December of 2009 and February of 2010.
