Employment News Release July 20, 2012
New Mexico’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.5 percent in June 2012, down from 6.7 percent a month earlier and 7.5 percent in June 2011.
The rate of over-the-year job growth, comparing June 2012 with June 2011, was negative 0.2 percent, representing a loss of 1,700 jobs. The preliminary May 2012 estimate, also down 0.2 percent from a year earlier, was revised upward to show a 100-job gain.
The return to job loss in June followed ten months of over-the-year growth averaging about 0.4 percent. Employment increased in seven industries, decreased in five, and remained unchanged in one.
Educational and health services added 4,300 jobs to its year-earlier total to again lead all industries. Leisure and hospitality, up 2,100; mining, up 1,600; and manufacturing, up 1,100, also registered large increases.
The government sector, down 5,200, continued to shed jobs, with losses nearly evenly distributed among the federal, state, and local levels. Employment was down 4,100 in professional and business services and 1,200 in both information and miscellaneous other services.
Detailed analysis will be provided in the June Labor Market Review, scheduled for release on July 27.