Unemployment linked to state policy failures
Drug abuse, lack of education leave many New Mexicans without the means to thrive
Residents of New Mexico are getting tired of the poor economy and high unemployment rates in our state and are looking to our state leaders to take aggressive action to improve those rates.
New Mexico has the second-highest unemployment rate in the nation, according to a (March 12) U.S. Department of Labor report.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that our state’s December 2017 unemployment rate was 6 percent, a small drop from 6.1 percent in October. Last December, the rate stood at 6.7 percent. The unemployment rate for January was 5.9 percent.
Despite this small decrease, the unemployment problem is still out of control and has been a problem in New Mexico for many years, affecting everyone with a lack of job opportunities . ... Our state has a higher unemployment rate than every other state except for Alaska. Over the last 25 years, the unemployment rate in New Mexico has fluctuated between 5 and 8 percent, but there have been two periods of low unemployment when the rate dropped below 5 percent.
During Republican Gov. Gary Johnson’s term in office from 1995–2002, the unemployment rate was under 5 percent for two years: 4.9 in 2000 and in 2001.
And during Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson’s term from 2003–2010, unemployment dropped to 4.2 in 2006, 3.8 in 2007, and 4.5 in 2008. Richardson’s term also showed the highest unemployment rate in the last 25 years, with 7.5 in 2009 and 8.1 in 2010.
Since 2010, under Gov. Susana Martinez, the unemployment rate has dropped steadily from 8.1 percent to 6.0, a rate which is still one spot from the bottom in the U.S.
It is difficult to accept that we remain near the bottom in this unsavory category year after year. After so many years of high unemployment, our legislators and business leaders should be able to come up with some solutions. Something has to be done to provide more jobs and improve the quality of life for New Mexicans.
One important factor contributing to unemployment in our state is the low high school graduation rate. New Mexico ranked the lowest in the nation in high school graduation from 2014-2015, according to the annual Building a Grad Nation survey. The survey shows a 68.6 percent high school graduation rate in our New Mexico, far below the national average of 82.3 percent.
Not receiving a high school diploma makes it incredibly more difficult for someone to get a job in the future.
Another factor which contributes to unemployment in our state is the drug abuse problem in New Mexico. According to Sage Neuroscience Center, New Mexico has the second-highest drug overdose rate in the United States, with 23.8 people out of every 100,000 dying from drug overdoses.
Because of the high school dropout problem and the high rate of drug abuse, it comes as no surprise that New Mexico has such high unemployment. There have to be solutions to those problems by improving our high school graduation rates and by providing better treatment and care for drug and alcohol abuse and addiction in order to help lower our high unemployment rate.
It is unfortunate that New Mexico consistently ranks at the bottom in negative categories. Many New Mexicans have given up and have left the state. According to U.S. Census Bureau, between 2010 and 2016, about 53,000 more people moved out of New Mexico than moved into the state.
We look to our state leaders — the governor, state legislators, business leaders and educators to come up with these solutions for the sake of the future of New Mexico.