Employment Situation in June: State-Level Analysis

Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 38 states in June compared to the previous month while 11 states and the District of Columbia lost jobs. Rhode Island reported no change. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nationwide total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 372,000 in June, following a gain of 384,000 jobs in May.

On a month-over-month basis, employment data was strong in Texas, which added 82,500 jobs, followed by Tennessee (+32,300), and Florida (+30,600). Eleven states and the District of Columbia lost a total of 44,600 jobs.  In percentage terms, employment in Tennessee increased by 1.0% while West Virginia reported a 1.0% decline between May and June.

Year-over-year ending in June, 6.3 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 850,600 jobs in California to 5,600 jobs added in Vermont. In percentage terms, Nevada reported the highest increase by 6.6%, while Kansas increased by 1.5% 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— 25 states reported an increase in June compared to May, while 22 lost construction sector jobs. West Virginia reported no change. Pennsylvania added 4,400 construction jobs while California lost 6,100 jobs. Overall, the construction industry added a net 13,000 jobs in June compared to the previous month. In percentage terms, Oregon increased by 2.4% while Connecticut reported a decline of 2.9% between May and June.

Year-over-year, construction sector jobs in the U.S. increased by 292,000, which is a 4.0% increase compared to the June 2021 level. Texas added 50,100 jobs, which was the largest gain of any state, while Kentucky lost 2,200 construction sector jobs. In percentage terms, New Mexico had the highest annual growth rate in the construction sector by 14.0%. Over this period, Kentucky reported a decline of 2.8%.