New Mexico, in the Poorhouse

Advance warning: This might be the most depressing post in the history of Errors of Enchantment.

The Wall Street Journal, examining data from a report by IHS Global Insight prepared for the U.S. Conference of Mayors, documented annual wage growth, adjusted for inflation, between 2009 and 2015 for America’s cities.

Just 30 communities — 10 percent of the total — saw declines over the period. Three of New Mexico’s four metro regions were among the 30. Annual real wage growth fell by 0.4 percent in both Santa Fe and Las Cruces. Albuquerque dropped by 0.2 percent.

Happily, the figure for Farmington was a positive 0.4 percent — although the gain has surely been reversed recently, with northwest New Mexico facing devastating layoffs.

The Great Recession was brutal to the Land of Enchantment, and we’ve got a long way to go before we climb our way back to zero. A radical overhaul of economic-development policy is required, pronto.