New Mexico ranks among the top 5 states for job growth
For Immediate Release
March 28, 2022
Contact: Stacy Johnston
Communications & Marketing Director
505.250.3926
New Mexico ranks among the top 5 states for job growth
(Albuquerque, NM) – New Mexico ranked 5th in the nation for over-the-year total nonfarm employment growth in February only surpassed by Nevada, Hawaii, Texas, and California. Increasing by 50,100 jobs, or 6.4 percent, most of the gains were in the private sector with seven major private industry sectors reporting employment increases from February 2021 to February 2022.
“February marks the fourth consecutive month our state has ranked in the top 10 states in the nation for job growth,” said Department of Workforce Solutions Acting Secretary Ricky Serna. “I’m proud of the work our department and state are doing on all levels including speaking directly with employers regarding workforce needs and concerns and developing plans on how to address them, as-well-as partnering with state agencies to create tools and resources to boost connections between jobs seekers, training providers, and available work opportunities.”
Leisure and hospitality experienced the largest employment growth with a gain of 24,000 jobs, or 33.4 percent, compared to the previous year outpacing National growth of 17.4 percent. New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions and the New Mexico Tourism Department announced in February the joint effort to promote hospitality job vacancies.
Over a thousand hospitality and tourism jobs are currently listed on the Ready NM website https://ready.nm.gov/hospitality. Job seekers can filter by location and/or occupation name to see available listings while employers are able to post multiple openings they are looking to fill.
Funding is available to assist tourism-related businesses with their new hires or promotions of staff who need training to be successful in their career path. The program will cover up to 16 weeks with a range of total reimbursement per employee from $816-$4,480. More information, including how to apply, is available at https://ready.nm.gov/businesses/hospitality-training-reimbursement-program.
“The encouraging rebound in leisure and hospitality employment further demonstrates how our shared commitment to collaboration positively influenced workforce recovery,” said Tourism Department Secretary Jen Paul Schroer. “By teaming up with the Department of Workforce Solutions on a series of workforce recruitment and development initiatives over the course of 2021, we were able restore much-needed capacity for the leisure and hospitality sector so we could again set our sights on growing New Mexico’s economy through tourism.”
Other significant employment increases were found in the sectors of retail and wholesale trade; mining and construction; professional and business services; education and health services; manufacturing; transportation, warehousing, and utilities; and miscellaneous other services.
For more information on each sector and for an overview of the state, the January Employment News release is available at https://www.dws.state.nm.us/Portals/0/DM/LMI/pr-pdf-0122.pdf.
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