Employment Situation in October: State-Level Analysis

Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 25 states in September compared to the previous month, while 22 states lost jobs. The District of Columbia, North Dakota, New Mexico, and Virginia reported no change. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nationwide total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 150,000 in October, following a gain of 297,000 jobs in September.

On a month-over-month basis, employment data was strong in California, which added 40,200 jobs, followed by Florida (+28,400), and Washington (+7,900). Twenty-two states lost a total of 104,300 jobs with New York reporting the steepest job losses at 22,700.  In percentage terms, employment in Alaska increased by 0.5% while Maryland reported a 0.4% decline between September and October.

Year-over-year ending in October, 2.9 million jobs have been added to the labor market. Except for Rhode Island, all the other states and District of Columbia added jobs compared to a year ago. The range of job gains spanned 391,500 jobs in Texas to 400 jobs added in Mississippi. Rhode Island lost 2,500 jobs on a year-over-year basis. In percentage terms, Idaho reported the highest increase by 3.5%, while Rhode Island decreased by 0.5% 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— 22 states reported an increase in October compared to September, while 24 states lost construction sector jobs. New Jersey and Vermont reported no change on a month-over-month basis. Ohio added 6,000 construction jobs, while Tennessee lost 2,900 jobs. Overall, the construction industry added a net 23,000 jobs in October compared to the previous month. In percentage terms, Kentucky increased by 2.6% while Rhode Island reported a decline of 4.5% between September and October.

Year-over-year, construction sector jobs in the U.S. increased by 219,000, which is a 2.8% increase compared to the October 2022 level. California added 21,000 jobs, which was the largest gain of any state, while Colorado lost 7,200 construction sector jobs. In percentage terms, Kentucky had the highest annual growth rate in the construction sector by 14.9%. Over this period, North Dakota reported a decline of 8.5%.