I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
New Mexico’s unemployment rate in March was 8.8 percent according to the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions. This is up form 8.7 percent in February and 6.3 percent a year ago.
The national unemployment rate held steady at 9.7 percent.
“New Mexico has experienced job losses from the impact of the national recession, and we have been especially hard hit in the goods-producing industries of mining, construction, and manufacturing,” a news release from the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions said. “The state relies more heavily on mining and construction employment than the national average, so these declines have hit the state disproportionately.”
Most areas of employment had small drops in unemployment this month, but the leisure and hospitality industry added 1,300 jobs and the retail trade industry added 300 jobs. The educational and health services industry dropped 500 jobs from February to March.
There were 3,900 government jobs created in the state, paced by the 2,600 workers hired to help collect information for the U.S. Census.
The unemployment rate in the Albuquerque metro area rose to 9.2 percent, up from 8.8 percent. The unemployment rate in the metro area was 6.8 percent in March of 2009.
In the Las Cruces metro area, the March unemployment rate was 8.5 percent in March, up from 8.1 percent in February and 6.2 percent in March of 2009.
In the Santa Fe area, the unemployment rate was 7.6 percent in March, up from 7.2 percent in February. In March of 2009, the unemployment rate was 5.6 percent.
The unemployment rate in Farmington was 11.3 percent in March, up from 10.7 percent in February. In March of 2009, the unemployment rate was 6 percent.
The number put New Mexico 34th in job growth, at -2.1 percent near states like Idaho, Oregon and Alabama. Only two states, Alaska and North Dakota, along with the District of Columbia, gained jobs from March 2009 to March 2010. Nevada lost the most jobs in the past year.
New Mexico continues to be around the average in unemployment, ranking 28th this month. Michigan has the highest unemployment rate with 14.1 percent while North Dakota has the smallest at 4 percent. In March of 2009, New Mexico’s unemployment rate of 6.3 percent was the 10th smallest.
