Employment Up In Most States

In a sign that the U.S. economy is well into its recovery, the vast majority of states showed an increase in nonfarm payroll employment in the month of April.  Forty-two states plus the District of Columbia showed such an increase, leaving just 8 states having a decline in employment for the month.

The largest over-the-month increase in employment occurred in New York (+45,700), followed by Texas (+32,900), Pennsylvania (+23,700), Massachusetts (+19,500), and Florida (+14,900).  Geographically, the northeast is the most well represented, but clearly, with these largest increases as far South as Florida and way out west in Texas, these increases are a nation-wide phenomenon.

The few states that had decreased employment for April were also spread out.  The largest over-the-month decrease in employment occurred in Michigan (?10,200), followed by Minnesota (?5,200), South Carolina (?3,800), Indiana (?2,500), and Vermont (?2,200).  The loss of employment in Michigan may be the most surprising, given that the auto industry has been well since they were bailed out with loans from the Treasury Department TARP program (Chrysler repaid their loans earlier this week).  Hopefully, the auto industry will continue to thrive and bring some much needed job to the state.

Month to month statistics are notoriously unstable, but increase employment seems to have been the trend over the past year.  From April, 2010 to April, 2011 23 states experienced statistically significant changes in employment, all of which were increases. Among these states, the largest over-the-year increase occurred in Texas (+254,400), followed by California (+144,200), Pennsylvania (+80,000), Ohio (+67,000), and Illinois (+66,600).