Record lows in unemployment across US
Quinlan 23, Casey Quinlan, an economy reporter for States Newsroom, based in Washington, D.C. For the past decade, they have reported on national politics and state politics, LGBTQ rights, and more, “States see record low unemployment across the U.S,” Nebraska Examiner, https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/05/25/states-see-record-low-unemployment-across-the-u-s/, May 25, 2023 //kw
Across much of the country, the jobs market is as strong as it’s ever been, and Black women, young people and people with disabilities are among the workers benefiting, recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data show. Twenty states reported an unemployment rate under 3% in April, while 15 states saw record lows, led by South Dakota at 1.9%, followed by Nebraska at 2%, and New Hampshire and North Dakota at 2.1%. The national rate was 3.4%. Other states that saw their unemployment rates reach levels not seen since the BLS began recording them in 1976, include Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Maine, Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, according to BLS data released on Friday. Wisconsin broke new records in April for both low unemployment and new job creation. The state’s unemployment rate dropped to 2.4% and Wisconsin counted more than 3 million jobs in April, a gain of 51,500 from a year ago and 9,600 jobs ahead of the number recorded at the peak in early 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mark Vitner, chief economist at Piedmont Crescent Capital in Charlotte, North Carolina, said major metropolitan areas and emerging metropolitan areas in the South have benefited from recent shifts in the labor market. In Florida, the labor market in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville has been growing rapidly, he said.
“… Huntsville, Alabama, is one of the fastest growing markets and it’s a big tech market in aerospace and in defense. We’ve seen a huge influx from California into Huntsville and Chattanooga, Tennessee, has seen an influx of investment in the automotive industry,” he said. “The Port of Savannah has been the fastest growing port in the country. It’s just fueled enormous growth in the industrial market in Savannah and more broadly in south Georgia. These markets have low unemployment rates and very strong job growth and so that’s what you want to see that mix of.”