ECONOMY
Loss of 2,700 federal jobs drives New Mexico's unemployment rate higher for third-consecutive month
State recorded third-consecutive joblessness increase in March as federal employment continues to decline
New Mexico鈥檚 unemployment rate keeps inching upward as the Trump administration鈥檚 sweeping federal workforce cuts ripple through the U.S. job market.
The state鈥檚 joblessness rate crept up for the third-consecutive month in March, with an unemployment rate of 4.8% 鈥� up from 4.7% in February, 4.5% in January and 4.1% in March 2025.
Unprecedented cutbacks across the federal workforce are the main source of the pain.
鈥淭he sector that seems to be driving job losses is really the federal government,鈥� said Sarita Nair, secretary of the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions.
Steady growth in state government jobs, mining and logging, alongside New Mexico鈥檚 burgeoning energy and tech sectors, hasn鈥檛 been enough to absorb a 9.3% reduction in the Land of Enchantment鈥檚 federal workforce in just a year鈥檚 time.
鈥淵ear over year, we鈥檝e seen a loss of 2,700 jobs in the federal government, countered by an increase of 900 jobs in the private sector,鈥� Nair said. 鈥淪o we're just not keeping up with new jobs at the same rate as we're losing those federal jobs.鈥�
With a high concentration of federal jobs compared to many other states, New Mexico鈥檚 unemployment rate has climbed higher than any of its neighbors 鈥� a full percentage point over Utah 鈥� and is tied with Connecticut for the 11th highest unemployment rate in the nation.
By comparison, the national unemployment rate has been declining 鈥� from 4.4% in February to 4.3% in March, buoyed by steady growth in the healthcare, transportation and warehouse and retail sectors.
New Mexico recorded a roughly 17% year-over-year percentage increase over its unemployment rate of 4.1% in March 2025, shortly after the Trump administration initiated large-scale staff cuts across federal agencies.
Most federal offices faced workforce reductions from September 2024 through January of this year, with thousands of jobs slashed across USAID, Health and Human Services and the departments of Defense, Treasury, Agriculture, Interior, Education and Veterans Affairs, among other agencies.
With more than 9 million acres of national forest land and 13 million acres under the supervision of the Bureau of Land Management, cuts to the U.S. departments of Interior and Agriculture have run deep across New Mexico and other Western states with large public land endowments.
Former federal workers who either retired, were fired or are still seeking new positions include forestry managers, technicians, botanists, wildlife experts and research teams.
Former federal workers the Journal has spoken to over the past year have expressed alarm as to how public lands will be managed moving forward. Climate models predict warmer, drier conditions in coming decades and the nation鈥檚 forests pose heightened catastrophic wildfire risk from decades of densification.
Sandee Hart, a Forest Service employee who retired from the agency鈥檚 Washington, D.C., field office in Albuquerque in 2015, said closures of regional field offices and research labs undermine the agency鈥檚 120-year history.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e gutting the Forest Service, basically, which is very upsetting,鈥� she told the Journal.
The regional field office in Albuquerque was one of nine slated for closure as part of a reorganization plan Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins published last summer, but the agency recently announced the office will be among just a few that will remain open.
Cuts to federal land management agencies, which also manage wildland fire response for thousands of acres of forests targeted for thinning work, have displaced many workers across New Mexico offices and other parts of the West, though official numbers remain unconfirmed by the federal government.
Those who remain are now overburdened and demoralized, said Scott Fitzwilliams, who retired as supervisor of White River National Forest in Colorado around the onset of the Trump administration's workforce culling in early 2025.
Fitzwilliams said dozens of White River employees were either fired or took the notorious 鈥渇ork in the road鈥� offered under the Department of Government Efficiency, otherwise known as DOGE.
鈥淚 can tell you the morale of the rank-and-file people that I am still friends with and communicate with is awful,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a fearful environment, and people are less committed to the work, because it鈥檚 very confusing and changing. There鈥檚 just this fear of what鈥檚 next.鈥�
Reilly S. White, associate dean of teaching and learning and a tenured professor at the University of New Mexico, said government jobs constitute around 21.5% of New Mexico鈥檚 overall labor force, but explained that the loss in that sector isn鈥檛 the only force driving up the state鈥檚 unemployment rate.
As one example, he pointed to the state鈥檚 construction sector, which saw a roughly 4.2% decline since March 2025.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 really cyclical, so that comes and goes with big and smaller projects,鈥� he said.
But New Mexico also recorded reductions of 5.4%, 2%, 1.7% and 1.6% in its information services, local government education, financial activities and professional and business services sectors over the same period, respectively.
A total of 935,729 New Mexicans were employed and 46,694 were unemployed but seeking work in New Mexico as of March, according to the Department of Workforce Solutions.
More than half of the state鈥檚 overall federal job losses took place in Albuquerque, which saw the most federal unemployment claims 鈥� a category Nair said the state started tracking in January 2025 at the onset of the DOGE cuts.
Other New Mexico cities most heavily impacted by the federal cuts include Rio Rancho, Las Cruces, Alamogordo, Clovis, Carlsbad and Farmington.
The New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee estimating that 32,000 young people in the state are neither attending school nor employed, costing the state approximately $623 million annually.
But Nair said the state is taking action to bolster its workforce.
鈥淲e offer a lot of re-employment services,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 everything from resume reviews to interview practice to hiring events and placing people with employers.鈥�
In March, the state Economic Development Department鈥檚 Job Training Incentive Program board approved $5.5 million to support the creation of 207 jobs and 18 internships at seven New Mexico companies.
Companies that added new jobs and internships as a result of the funding infusion included ABC Technology Group in Albuquerque; Sceye in Moriarty; Navitas Global in Portales; Ideum in Corrales; Half Life Digital in Albuquerque; Mesa Quantum Systems in Albuquerque; and Eden Pharmacy, also located in Albuquerque.
For those still looking to get back to work, Nair said the Department of Workforce Solutions maintains 24 local offices throughout the state.
鈥淕etting that field staff out into the community has been really important,鈥� she said. 鈥淣ot everybody understands that there are all these free services that we provide out there, so our teams have been really getting out there to let people know that we鈥檙e there if they need assistance finding a new job.鈥�
John Miller is the 近距离内射合集鈥檚 northern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at jmiller@abqjournal.com.
