Global| Apr 23 2021State Labor Markets in March
Summary
The pace of improvement in state labor markets in March was varied. Despite the very large increase in national payrolls, only 29 states reported statistically significant gains, though Alaska was the only state to register a (small [...]
The pace of improvement in state labor markets in March was varied. Despite the very large increase in national payrolls, only 29 states reported statistically significant gains, though Alaska was the only state to register a (small and statistically insignificant drop). 3 very large states accounted for a big share of the overall increase: California (up 119,600), Texas (99,000) and New York (63,700). In all three cases pickups in leisure and hospitality jobs were important factors. Illinois and Florida were the only other states to see increases above 30,000. On a percentage basis New Mexico's 1.3 percent rise was the largest.
Many states saw statistically significant drops in their unemployment rates from February to March; Tennessee was the only state to show any noticeable, though not statistically significant, increase (from 4.9 to 5.0 percent). The general pattern of unemployment across the nation was essentially unchanged, with Hawaii continuing to have the highest rate (9.0 percent) with New York second (8.5 percent). The low unemployment areas were In Northern New England, the plains, and much of the Mountain West, Rocky Mountains, and Southeast, along with a number of other states. Higher unemployment rate states were generally in the West and Northeast.
Puerto Rico's numbers were fairly good, with the island adding 2,400 jobs—mainly in leisure and hospitality--and its unemployment rate falling from 9.1 percent to 8.8 percent.
Charles Steindel
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Charles Steindel has been editor of Business Economics, the journal of the National Association for Business Economics, since 2016. From 2014 to 2021 he was Resident Scholar at the Anisfield School of Business, Ramapo College of New Jersey. From 2010 to 2014 he was the first Chief Economist of the New Jersey Department of the Treasury, with responsibilities for economic and revenue projections and analysis of state economic policy. He came to the Treasury after a long career at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where he played a major role in forecasting and policy advice and rose to the rank of Senior Vice-President. He has served in leadership positions in a number of professional organizations. In 2011 he received the William F. Butler Award from the New York Association for Business Economics, is a fellow of NABE and of the Money Marketeers of New York University, and has received several awards for articles published in Business Economics. In 2017 he delivered Ramapo College's Sebastian J. Raciti Memorial Lecture. He is a member of the panel for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's Survey of Professional Forecasters and of the Committee on Research in Income and Wealth. He has published papers in a range of areas, and is the author of Economic Indicators for Professionals: Putting the Statistics into Perspective. He received his bachelor's degree from Emory University, his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and is a National Association for Business Economics Certified Business EconomistTM.
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