State Labor Markets in April 2026
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State labor markets were a bit firmer in April than in prior months, but insufficient to reverse a long lethargic spell. Six states saw statistically significant increases in payroll from March, though none was especially large (Florida had a 40,500 gain, or .4%, while New Mexico was up .6%, or 5,700). Over the last 12 months, the only ones to see statistically significant changes were DC (down 39,100, or a whopping 5.1%, reflecting the slashing of federal jobs), Oregon, down 1.2%, and Nevada, up 1.9%.
Three states reported statistically significant drops in their unemployment rates in April, while two reported declines. None was larger than .2 percentage point (Connecticut’ was up that amount while Ohio’s fell than much). Once again, about half of the states had rates statistically different than the nation’s 4.3%, but once more California was the only one of the very largest states to do so. Rates at or above 5.0% were in DC, Delaware, Nevada, California, Washington, and Illinois, with DC’s again 6.3% the highest. Alabama, Hawaii, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Vermont had unemployment rates under 3.0%, while South Dakota’s 2.4% was the lowest in the nation.
Puerto Rico’s unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.6% and the island’s job count rose 3,600.
Charles Steindel
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Charles Steindel has been editor of Business Economics, the journal of the National Association for Business Economics, since 2016. From 2014 to 2021 he was Resident Scholar at the Anisfield School of Business, Ramapo College of New Jersey. From 2010 to 2014 he was the first Chief Economist of the New Jersey Department of the Treasury, with responsibilities for economic and revenue projections and analysis of state economic policy. He came to the Treasury after a long career at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where he played a major role in forecasting and policy advice and rose to the rank of Senior Vice-President. He has served in leadership positions in a number of professional organizations. In 2011 he received the William F. Butler Award from the New York Association for Business Economics, is a fellow of NABE and of the Money Marketeers of New York University, and has received several awards for articles published in Business Economics. In 2017 he delivered Ramapo College's Sebastian J. Raciti Memorial Lecture. He is a member of the panel for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's Survey of Professional Forecasters and of the Committee on Research in Income and Wealth. He has published papers in a range of areas, and is the author of Economic Indicators for Professionals: Putting the Statistics into Perspective. He received his bachelor's degree from Emory University, his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and is a National Association for Business Economics Certified Business EconomistTM.