Unemployment dips as tourists visit
Lincoln County's unemployment rate is better than the state's but not as good as the nation's
- Hospitality and leisure industry leads the pack
The unemployment rate in Lincoln County is dropping as spring breakers give way to summer tourists.
The revised rate in April hit 5.4 percent, down from 6 percent in March and from 5.5 percent in April 2016.
The labor force at 8,355 was up slightly from one year ago, but down from 8,450 in March, based on information from the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions.
New Mexico’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.7 percent in April, equal to the rate in March, but up from 6.6 percent a year earlier. The national unemployment rate was 4.4 percent, down from 4.5 percent in March and down from 5.0 percent in April 2016, the report noted.
Total nonfarm payroll employment grew by 7,400 jobs, or 0.9 percent, between April 2016 and April 2017.
Leisure and hospitality, which includes accommodation and food services, was up 3,300 jobs or 3.5 percent, the workforce solutions report pointed out.
“April’s posting represented the largest numeric increase in the state and took the industry into a period of over six and a half years of consecutive gains,” the report stated. “Construction posted the largest percentage gain, and the second largest numeric gain, of all industries. April’s very sharp uptick of 2,600 jobs, or 6 percent, is the industry’s largest over-the-year increase since October 2006.”
Education and health services, the largest private industry sector in New Mexico, also was up by 2,100 jobs or 1.5 percent.