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U.S. and New Mexico metrics
Track New Mexico and U.S. unemployment rates with monthly comparisons, historical charts, definitions, and downloadable Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
For Sep 2026, New Mexico was 4.70%, compared with 4.20% for United States. The difference was 0.5 percentage points higher.
This comparison uses the most recent period available for both series. The cards above show each series' latest published observation. A percentage-point difference and a relative percentage change answer different questions.
The unemployment rate measures the share of the civilian labor force who are without a job, available for work, and actively looking for work, including people on temporary layoff. The labor force includes employed and unemployed people; it does not include every resident.
Use this monthly comparison to follow labor-market conditions in New Mexico alongside the national economy. Both lines are seasonally adjusted, reducing recurring calendar effects such as seasonal hiring. State estimates come from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program; the national rate comes from the Current Population Survey.
The same-period comparison uses a month published for both geographies. New Mexico and national releases may arrive on different dates, and earlier estimates can be revised.
Differences between unemployment rates, including changes from a year earlier in the table, are expressed in percentage points. They are not changes in the number of unemployed people.
Unemployment can fall when people find work or leave the labor force. Read it with employment, labor-force participation, and local industry conditions rather than treating a lower rate as a complete account of economic health.
Missing observations remain unavailable. Annual changes require the corresponding prior reference period; they are not calculated by moving to an arbitrary earlier row. Observation dates use UTC.
No. Unemployment insurance claims are administrative records. The unemployment rate follows a statistical definition that includes people who do not receive benefits and excludes some people who file claims.
County profiles can publish unadjusted local observations. Compare the geography, month, and seasonal-adjustment basis before interpreting a difference.
Generally, people who are neither working nor actively seeking work are outside the labor force. Broader underutilization measures capture additional groups; the standard unemployment rate shown here is U-3.
The downloads include original source records and normalized comparison observations with column metadata. Cite the source agency, series or release vintage, observation period, and the date you retrieved the data.
For local context, explore county profiles, city and place profiles, population sources and projections, and New Mexico industry employment and wages.