New Mexico added 11,200 payroll jobs over the 12 months ending in September 2026, outpacing national employment growth, according to a news release issued Friday, October 23, by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham's office and reported by Organ Mountain News. The governor's office said employment grew 1.3% over the year, compared with a national growth rate of 0.3%, and said the state ranked seventh nationally for annual job growth.
Source: Organ Mountain News
The monthly picture was softer. Seasonally adjusted figures published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and analysed by Congress's Joint Economic Committee show New Mexico lost approximately 800 payroll jobs between August and September, after adding 3,200 jobs the previous month, Organ Mountain News reported. The state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate held at 4.7% in September, up from 4.2% a year earlier. The national unemployment rate in September was 4.2%, according to state data reproduced by the Gallup Sun.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (Southwest)
The two readings use different measurements, the reporting explains: the governor's office cited unadjusted year-over-year payroll employment, while the Joint Economic Committee used seasonally adjusted data that account for recurring employment patterns. Its analysis showed New Mexico gained 11,900 jobs over 12 months on that adjusted basis, even as employment declined during September.
Source: Organ Mountain News
Where the jobs were added
Over the year, the private sector was up 8,400 jobs, or 1.2%, while the public sector was up 2,800 jobs, or 1.5%, according to the state figures reproduced by the Gallup Sun. Within the private sector, goods-producing industries were up 4,800 jobs, or 4.4%, led by mining and construction, up 4,200 jobs, or 5.3% — mining up 1,400 and construction up 2,800 — while manufacturing was up 600 jobs.
Source: Gallup Sun (state employment data)
Among service industries, trade, transportation and utilities employment was up 3,200 jobs, or 2.2%, with retail trade up 2,200, and private education and health services reported a net gain of 3,000 jobs, as health care and social assistance rose 3,700 while private educational services fell 700, the Gallup Sun reported. Financial activities were up 500 jobs and leisure and hospitality up 100.
Source: Gallup Sun (state employment data)
For workers, the figures point in two directions at once: a year of unusually fast job creation for a small state — concentrated in construction, mining, transport and health care — alongside a jobless rate that is higher than a year ago and higher than the national rate, and a small monthly fall in September on the seasonally adjusted series. The next monthly release will show whether September was a pause or the start of a slowdown.