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.
Just as New Mexico trailed the U.S. trend in job losses, the state likely will lag in economic recovery, says the latest New Mexico Economic Summary produced by the New Mexico Legislative Council Service.
There are signs nationally that the recession has ended, although it’ll be a jobless recovery, meaning it could take a decade to climb back to the peak for job numbers, the two-page report says.
But here’s a key paragraph:
Nationally, employment appears to have bottomed out at 129.6 million jobs in December 2009. But New Mexico lost another 3,600 jobs since December, dropping to 801,700.
And here’s another, that says that New Mexico falters when its retails sales, another sign of economic recovery, are compared to the nation’s overall:
In a typical reaction, U.S. retail sales turned positive in December 2009, nine months after the turnaround in consumer sentiment, and have grown steadily since then. And while total retail sales are still 6 percent below their November 2007 peak, the turnaround appears sustainable. But New Mexico taxable retail sales continue to decline, posting year-over-year declines of 5 percent each month from December through February while U.S. retail sales showed gains of 5 percent — more evidence that New Mexico will trail the rest of the nation out of the recession.
It looks as if there’s a long slog ahead.
