Global| May 21 2021State Labor Markets in April
|in:Viewpoints
Summary
Job growth was generally modest across the states in April, corresponding to the muted national figure. California was an outlier, with a strong payroll gain of nearly 102,000 (0.8 percent). Hawaii’s job count grew a vigorous 1.8 [...]
Job growth was generally modest across the states in April, corresponding to the muted national figure. California was an outlier, with a strong payroll gain of nearly 102,000 (0.8 percent). Hawaii’s job count grew a vigorous 1.8 percent. Both those states saw very sharp increases in leisure and hospitality payrolls. Surprisingly, numbers of states—especially in the South—saw drops in leisure and hospitality employment. In total, only nine states saw statistically significant increases payrolls, while two saw significant drops, with Michigan down by more than 19,000 (0.5 percent).
Twelve states (including DC) had statistically significant declines in their unemployment rates in April, with the declines in Hawaii and Puerto Rico both greater than 0.5 percentage points. Hawaii still had the highest unemployment rate in the nation—8.5 percent. Utah continues to have the lowest rate, at 2.8 percent. The geographic distribution of unemployment was unchanged: the low unemployment areas are In Northern New England, the plains, and much of the Mountain West and Southeast, along with a number of other states. Higher unemployment rate states are generally in the West and Northeast.
Puerto Rico’s unemployment rate fell from 8.8 percent to 8.4 percent, despite a fairly strong pickup in its labor force. However, the job count on the island was virtually unchanged: unlike Hawaii, Puerto Rico did not see an upsurge in leisure and hospitality jobs in April.
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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.