One of the explanations for the Land of Enchantment’s weak population growth is poor job-creation.
The New Mexico Economic Development Department boasts that the state “continues to recruit global and national companies like Facebook, Keter Plastic, Safelite and others, while helping homegrown businesses like Skorpios, UBiQD, Descartes Labs, RiskSense and others grow and thrive as well.” But in the real world, these “successes” aren’t generating much employment.
As the chart below shows, compared to its five neighbors, New Mexico ranked last in job-creation between January 2017 and January 2018.
Despite the state’s decade-long stagnation, the recent legislative session saw the passage of zero meaningful economic-development initiatives. Something for voters to remember when they head to the ballot box in November.
