Ending the Year with a Thud...

What a difference a year (or two) makes in New Mexico:

December '07: 3.5% unemployed
December '08: 4.7% unemployed
December '09: 8.3% unemployed

During the last year, 25,900 jobs were lost.

As usual, we are not alone (every state reported a decline in jobs) and the national unemployment rate finished the year in double digits -- an even 10%.

As you would expect, since the Albuquerque/Rio Rancho area is by far the largest in the state, most of the job loss happened here: 14,300. The big losers were manufacturing and construction.