Area unemployment rate lower than state average

New Mexico’s 6 percent unemployment rate — the second highest in the nation — isn’t sending eastern New Mexico into a panic.

Though unemployment in the state has dropped from 6.1 percent in November of 2017, the unemployment rate in December was only lower than Alaska, at 7.3 percent.

Eastern New Mexico’s positive attitude has to do with keeping the situation in perspective, according to Roosevelt County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Karl Terry.

Roosevelt County’s unemployment rate was 4.8 percent in November of 2017, down from 5.6 percent in 2012 and up from 4.3 percent in 1997.

While Terry isn’t overly alarmed by the most recent data, he said it has trended negatively in recent years.

“We’ve had some difficulties with Coca Cola (bottling plant closing in 2016), and some other things that have gone away — some bigger stuff,” he said, “and some stuff we haven’t replaced, and stuff that hasn’t grown back like we thought, like with Ready Roast (nut company).”

Curry County has seen a steady decrease in unemployment, from 5.5 percent in 1997, to 5 percent in 2012, to 4.5 percent in November.

Clovis Industrial Development Corp. Executive Director Chase Gentry heaped much of the credit on two projects: A $160 million expansion with Southwest Cheese — which has seen 48 new jobs over the last eight to 10 months — and the construction of a wind farm north of Clovis by Pattern Energy.

“They’ve added about 30 employees out there, and the construction was about 300 at the time, and then all of the spin-offs of that into the economy,” he said. He said new restaurants, including Denny’s and Del Taco, have also helped fight unemployment in the area.

Terry and Gentry both pointed to recruitment as a major aid in raising the number of jobs in eastern New Mexico.

“Keep working on recruitment, and keep trying to make the climate attractive for new business and businesses that are existing to grow and expand their operations. We’ve been successful with that, but we can’t be deterred,” Terry said.

“Obviously, continue to recruit industry and create jobs. We also work on retention and expansion, so we’d like to help existing businesses grow. That’s part of our overall marketing plan that we conduct,” Gentry said.

Terry added that investing in New Mexico’s education system will go a long way toward making sure its citizens stay employed.

“We’ve gone through a number of years where the budgets were down, and we’re having trouble keeping good teachers in the schools. If we can’t maintain that, that’s gonna be a tough thing to overcome, as far as employment,” he said.