Unemployment figures for March show some stability but no real improvement.

New Mexico:
A .1% increase in March over February to 8.8% Most of the economists who track this state feel we are at the start of a very slow recovery. Emphasis on s-l-o-w.

Albuquerque/Rio Rancho:
A .4% jump in unemployment from February to March. Far larger than the jump in the state as a whole. Job growth has been negative for the past 18 months.

Green2V – a start up solar energy company – plans on breaking ground in Rio Rancho for a 1 million square foot plant. The new company (whose CEO ran Intel’s Rio Rancho plant in the 1990’s) will manufacture solar cells and will design, install, operate and finance the systems.
IF all goes well — and that is always a big IF — the plant will provide 1,500 jobs at full operating capacity.

New Mexico’s unemployment percentage continues to go up… this time .2% from January to February. The state now sits at 8.7%

Albuquerque/Rio Rancho also ‘gained’… up .1% to an even 9% for February.

I have normally talked about the sectors where we have managed to hold onto jobs… but this time, lets take a look at where the most damage is being done. And not only is the list a long one but it contains most of the areas where pay is the highest.

Construction
Manufacturing
Mining
Professional & Business Services
Retail Trade
Transportation, Warehousing and Utilities

And, if you are thinking there is not much left… you are right. Government and Educational & Health Services were the brightest spots.