After more than a decade of wandering in the economic desert, the Albuquerque metro area is almost back to the starting line when it comes to jobs.
Within the next couple of months the area should – finally - have as many jobs as it had in December of 2007, when non-farm payroll jobs peaked at 401,700.
Graph: ABQ Metro Area Non-farm Payroll Jobs: 2006-May 2018. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
In the year that ended May 31, the four-county metro area added 7,300 jobs for a 1.9 percent growth rate. As of May 31, the area had 397,000 jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Six of the area's major industry sectors gained jobs, two lost them, and two had no change.
You will probably hear shouts of jubilation and congratulations when the area finally hits the jobs starting line, but remember, it took more than a decade for the area merely to get back to the starting point.