Year-over-year (YoY), total nonfarm employment fell by 19.4 million jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis (SA), or -12.9% from April 2019 to April 2020. During this time, total nonfarm employment decreased across all the regions.  The Northeast declined by 18.2%, the Midwest by 14.5%, the Western region by 12.6% and the South by 10.7%.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nonfarm payroll employment decreased in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, in April compared to the previous month. The largest decline came from California, which lost 2.3 million jobs during this time. Nationwide, total nonfarm payroll employment declined by 20.5 million over the month of April, following a revised loss of 870,000 jobs in March.

Year-over-year, ending in April, all the states and the District of Columbia experienced a decrease in employment totaling 19.4 million across the country. The range of job losses span 26,000 jobs lost in Wyoming to 2.3 million job lost in California.

In the construction sector specifically, which includes both residential and non-residential construction, across the 48 states which reported construction sector jobs data, 47 states had a decrease in April compared to March. South Dakota added 500 construction jobs during this time. Overall, the construction industry lost 975,000 jobs in April compared to the previous month. The range of job losses span 166,200 in New York to 500 in Wyoming.

Year-over-year, the U.S lost 838,000 construction sector jobs which is a 11.2% decrease compared to April 2019. Utah added 3,400 jobs, which was the largest gains of any state while New York lost 167,900 jobs, which was the largest decline of any state. In percentage terms, South Dakota had the highest annual growth rate in construction sector by 9.6%. Over this period, Vermont reported the largest decline at 48.7%.

Tags: construction labor, economics, state and local markets, state employment