Third consecutive month of record 14-year low unemployment

SANTA FE – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and the state Department of Workforce Solutions announced on Friday that New Mexico’s unemployment rate continued to decrease and at 4.2% is now the lowest it has been since July 2008. Over the last two monthly jobs reports, New Mexico has improved five places in the national ranking of state unemployment rates.

“For the third month in a row, we’ve brought New Mexico’s unemployment rate to the lowest it has been in nearly 15 years – that’s huge,” said Gov. Lujan Grisham. “We continue to see substantial job growth, adding over 31,000 new jobs in the last year in sectors from construction and hospitality to education and health care. At the same time, we are seeing record enrollment at New Mexico universities as a result of our investment in tuition-free college. There’s no doubt – we are creating more opportunities than ever for New Mexico families, growing and diversifying the state’s economy and training our workforce for a thriving future.”

The monthly unemployment data further illustrates the positive results of Gov. Lujan Grisham’s economic investments evidenced by state quarterly economic summaries published earlier this month, which showed that the number of business establishments in New Mexico has increased by over 8% in the last year alone and now exceeds the pre-pandemic total by more than 10%. Additionally, New Mexico’s unemployment rate is now nearly two percentage points lower than it was prior to the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, underscoring the success of the Lujan Grisham administration’s actions to create jobs and spur economic growth statewide.

One of the innovative ways the Lujan Grisham administration continues to create jobs across the state is through Local Economic Development Act funding, which supports the expansion of New Mexico businesses and attracts exciting new partners to the state.

“The support from the state has been critical to helping us grow and add new jobs,” said Norman C. Ruth, vice president of Deluxe Design Inc., a family-owned design, sign, and screen printing company based in Rio Rancho that was awarded state LEDA assistance earlier this year to expand operations, including purchasing a new facility and more than doubling its employees. “We are very busy supporting live events and working on interior signage for construction projects at Intel and Facebook. We feel very good about hiring and expanding in New Mexico.”

“We are seeing the business climate remain strong in New Mexico and we’re excited about this phase of our growth,” said Justin Crowe, founder and CEO of Parting Stone, a Santa Fe-based company that received LEDA assistance in August which will enable the hiring of nearly 90 new employees. “We are currently expanding our marketing team, automating production, and preparing for new opportunities ahead.”