In a strange move Friday, Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham praised New Mexico’s meager unemployment rate drop of 0.4 percent from June to July. The rate is now 4.5 percent — the lowest in the nation among states and tied with the District of Columbia. That means New Mexico continue to be ranked 50th out of all 50 states for unemployment.
Despite this, Lujan Grisham claimed, “Big news : New Mexico’s unemployment rate is now the lowest it’s been in nearly 15 years. That’s right – we’ve brought New Mexico’s unemployment to the lowest rate since September 2008.”
She added, “This is proof positive that the work my administration has done to support and invest in New Mexico businesses, to attract exciting new companies here, and to grow key economic sectors is yielding real results that make a difference for New Mexico families.”
New Mexico’s unemployment rate has been close to its current rate in the recent past, such as during President Trump’s tenure when New Mexico’s unemployment rate hit 4.8 percent from May to September 2018 — before Lujan Grisham took the reigns.
During the pandemic, the New Mexico Department of Tourism released figures showing at least 40% of New Mexico small businesses have closed, while the New Mexico Restaurants Association reported that nearly 1,100 restaurants have closed their doors for good thanks to the Lujan Grisham pandemic policies.
But this extremely high unemployment rate as employers continue recruiting new hires with large bonuses, pay over the minimum wage, and other incentives, the state still remains dead last under Lujan Grisham’s rulership, making her boasts of record low unemployment underdeveloped and as some have put it “gaslighting.”
For many New Mexicans, being ranked 50th out of all 50 states is no cause for celebration, especially as their businesses have been shuttered and their employees continue to scour for work.
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MLG will be unemployed in November. That will indeed be something to celebrate.