On March 30, 2023, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law House Bill 449, expanding the eligibility for funding to help displaced electricity facility workers. This bill, sponsored by Representatives Anthony Allison, Mark Duncan, T. Ryan Lane, and Rod Montoya will assist more than 350 identified displaced workers who were affected by the closure of the San Juan Generating Station and adjacent coal mine in San Juan County, New Mexico. The Department of Workforce Solutions (DWS) oversees the $12 million Displaced Worker Assistance Fund and will begin a plan to disburse funds to eligible workers this spring.
New Mexico’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.5 percent in January 2023, unchanged from December and down from 5.4 percent in January 2022.