Employment Situation in February: State-Level Analysis

Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 48 states and the District of Columbia in February compared to the previous month while Arkansas and Alaska lost jobs. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nationwide total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 678,000 in February, following a gain of 481,000 jobs in January.

On a month-over-month basis, employment data was strong in California, which added 138,100 jobs, followed by Texas (+77,800) and Florida (+51,000). Arkansas and Alaska combined lost a total of 1,800 jobs.  In percentage terms, Nebraska employment increased by 1.2% while Alaska reported a 0.4% decline between January and February.

Year-over-year ending in February, 6.7 million jobs have been recovered, marking the economic rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic induced recession. All the states and District of Columbia added jobs compared to a year ago. The range of job gains spanned 1.1 million jobs in California to 6,700 jobs added in Alaska. In percentage terms, Nevada reported the highest increase by 9.7%, while Alabama increased by 1.7% compared to a year ago.

Across the 48 states which reported construction sector jobs data—which includes both residential as well as non-residential construction— 37 states reported an increase in February compared to January, while nine lost construction sector jobs. Alaska and Louisiana reported no change. California added 22,100 construction jobs while Georgia 4,300. Overall, the construction industry added 60,000 jobs in February compared to the previous month. In percentage terms, Rhode Island increased by 3.5% while Georgia reported a decline of 2.1% between January and February.

Year-over-year, construction sector jobs in the U.S. increased by 305,000, which is a 4.2% increase compared to the February 2021 level. Texas added 48,200 jobs, which was the largest gain of any state, while Pennsylvania, the only state to report job losses, lost 600 jobs. In percentage terms, Wyoming had the highest annual growth rate in the construction sector by 14.1%. Over this period, Pennsylvania reported a slight decline of 0.2%.