New Mexico employers added 11,200 jobs over the past year, pushing the state to seventh place nationally for job growth even as its unemployment rate climbed to 4.7 percent in September. The state's 1.3 percent year-over-year growth rate ran more than four times the national pace of 0.3 percent, according to figures the governor's office released Friday. But the gains came with a catch: the same month that produced the celebratory ranking also saw New Mexico's jobless rate rise from 4.2 percent a year earlier, and the state shed roughly 800 seasonally adjusted payroll jobs between August and September.
The numbers come from Bureau of Labor Statistics data covering September 2026, which the Office of the Governor touted in a Friday release. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said New Mexico is gaining ground against economic headwinds, framing the ranking as evidence the state's economy is holding up despite national uncertainty. Private employers accounted for most of the growth, adding 8,400 jobs, with seven of the state's nine private-industry categories expanding over the year.
Where the Jobs Landed
Construction led private-sector gains with 2,800 new jobs, a 5.1 percent increase, while mining added 1,400 jobs for a 5.6 percent jump, per the governor's office. Health care and social assistance added 3,700 jobs, and retail trade grew by 2,200. Local government added 4,200 workers overall, including 2,700 in local education — one of the few sectors where public hiring outpaced the private economy's steadier climb.
Federal employment told a different story. The federal government's New Mexico workforce shrank by 2,000 jobs, a 7.0 percent decline over the year, according to the same governor's office figures. That contraction echoes a broader trend documented separately: Source NM reported that federal cuts totaled 2,100 jobs in the state between June 2025 and June 2026, a period when New Mexico's overall job count grew by less than 1 percent. Sarita Nair said efforts to diversify New Mexico's economy are working, according to the report.
A Jobless Rate on the Rise
Even as the governor's office celebrated the growth ranking, the state's unemployment rate told a more complicated story. New Mexico's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held at 4.7 percent in September, up from 4.2 percent a year earlier, according to Organ Mountain News. The outlet also reported that New Mexico lost about 800 seasonally adjusted payroll jobs between August and September, and that labor-force participation slipped from 56.7 percent in August to 56.6 percent in September — a 0.9 percentage point drop from a year earlier.
Economists told legislators in August that New Mexico's unemployment rate had already topped the national rate back in July, a sign that the state's labor market softness predated September's figures. The jobless rate stood at 4.1 percent in September 2025, meaning the past year brought a measurable uptick even as the headline job-growth ranking improved.
How New Mexico Stacks Up Regionally
Among Southwestern states, New Mexico ranked third for job growth, trailing only Nevada and Utah, which each posted 1.4 percent annual gains, the governor's office reported. New Mexico's 1.3 percent growth rate still outpaced Texas at 1.1 percent, California at 0.8 percent, and Arizona and Oklahoma, which each grew 0.7 percent. Colorado grew 0.5 percent and Wyoming 0.4 percent over the same period, trailing New Mexico by a wider margin.
Looking Toward 2030
Longer-term projections suggest the composition of New Mexico's job market could keep shifting. Higher-wage industries including professional and technical services, construction and health care are expected to add more than 11,000 jobs by fiscal year 2030, per the Source NM report, while lower-wage sectors such as retail and food service are projected to lose nearly 5,000 jobs in that same window. The state's unemployment rate is forecast to run about equal to the national rate through the end of 2030, the same report noted — a trajectory that would leave New Mexico neither a clear outlier for struggle nor for strength.
As first reported by nm.news, the dual narrative of strong year-over-year growth paired with a climbing jobless rate captures a state economy in transition — gaining jobs overall while absorbing federal cuts and a softening labor market in real time.
