The latest ADP Pay Insights report shows that the median annual wage in New Mexico declined in May.
In April 2024, the median annual wage stood at $40,000. However, in May 2024, it dropped by 1% to $39,600. Despite this recent dip, there was a 2.06% increase compared to May 2023, when the median wage was $38,800.
New Mexico’s wages have hovered around $40,000 since experiencing a decline in the spring of 2022. Unlike some neighboring states, New Mexico hasn’t witnessed sustained wage growth since the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. Among its neighbors, Utah was the only state with an increase in median annual income between April and May 2024.
The ADP Pay Insights report is based on payroll data, tracking pay changes for approximately 17 million jobs over a 12-month period. This results in about 10 million monthly individual pay change observations, which are then used to compile the report.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate was 3.9% in April. North Dakota and South Dakota had the lowest unemployment rates, at 2%. New Mexico ranked 33rd in the country with an unemployment rate of 3.8%, the same as in March 2024.
New Mexico’s unemployment rate falls in the middle in the Southwestern region. States like Texas, Nevada, and California have higher unemployment rates, while Colorado, Oklahoma, Arizona, and Utah have lower rates.
Since few really understand what all of this means, let me focus the lens for you:
It takes over $75,000 to not require social services to afford food, housing and utilities in Albuquerque. $40,000 may be fine in rural areas where housing is much less, but that still isn’t a livable wage for anyone living in the Albuquerque Metro Area.
The Unemployment numbers are always a joke and manipulated so much that even the number they spew out to you is not close to accurate. There are far more who have exhausted their benefits than those who are on unemployment.
New Mexico does not have enough sustainable jobs to pay the workforce that is here. Service industries are shrinking… look at the number of restaurants closing in Albuquerque. Hotels have been converted to homeless housing. That means those workers who keeps hotels running are now out of work.
New Mexico is in a far worse place in every area than the numbers suggest. So for politicos to ignore the jobs issue, to Me, is just as bad as the allowance of illegal immigration and wasted dollars thrown at that mess.
New Mexico! Do Better!!
Rev. Rico
Time to vote Republican.
And yet rent continues to rise. My sister and I moved to Texas from NM in 2022 because our rent was jumping $400. When I look at our former complex now, rent is $1200 – $1400 for a 2 bed 2 bath 1000 ft sq apartment!!! NM need to put a stop the DEMONrats that continue to run the state into the ground!! Remove the Tiny Troll Groper that loves murdering babies and grabbing men in the privates!! Get rid of Rino’s like Ronchetti and Schiff!! Stand up to these evil POS!!!!
New Mexico and Federal Governments are not governments. They are crime syndicates. Elections are completely rigged. Emerge controlls the “Demrats” in office. Drug cartels are running bribery, extortion and blackmail to control their useful illegitimate idiots. Local mainstream media runs cover for the bad actors. Fake money steals from those who earn it and facilitates war. Homeless prople on average will lose 30 years of their lives. We lose 10 years on average living in a criminal sewer. We face terrorists, drug cartels and gangs infesting our communities. Protect yourself and community as best as you can.
Sad.
Only solution is to vote Republican.