Jobs tied to exports grow in New Mexico
Even with the uncertainty over the North American Free Trade Agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada, the percentage of jobs in New Mexico supported by the export of goods is growing faster than other states.
As of 2016, New Mexico had almost 15,000 jobs directly traced to exports, a 1.7 percent increase from the end of 2015, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The state Department of Workforce Solutions reports the boost was larger than any of the adjacent states — Texas, Colorado, Arizona, Utah — and the 15th-highest percentage increase in the country.
The largest market for state exporters remains Mexico at almost 45 percent by dollar volume, followed by China, Canada, Singapore and Saudi Arabia.
The largest categories of goods going to other countries are electronics, machine parts, optical, photographic and measuring equipment, as well as aircraft and space parts. The largest agricultural exports are dairy products, fruits and nuts.
The analysis is available in the Department of Workforce Solutions Labor Market Review for December on the agency website.
The report comes as an analysis prepared for the Business Roundtable revealed that scrapping NAFTA would cost New Mexico thousands of jobs that are directly or indirectly tied to exports.
The report by Trade Partnership Worldwide “shows withdrawal from NAFTA would reduce New Mexico businesses’ exports to Mexico and Canada by more than $300 million, as higher tariffs make New Mexico companies less competitive,” lowering state economic growth by $580 million.
Vox news reports that all five of the James Beard Foundation’s 2018 “America’s Classics” awards went to restaurants opened by immigrants.
The 2018 awards “appear to be the first year that all the awards went to restaurants founded by immigrants who arrived after 1965,” according to Rachel Wolfe of Vox, which is one of the websites owned by Vox Media.
The chefs range from a Chinese immigrant to transplants from Mexico, Vietnam and Italy. Though the Beard Foundation told Vox that a chef ’s geographic background wasn’t a factor in selection, Vox added, “By calling restaurants founded by immigrants from Italy, Vietnam, China, and Mexico “American Classics,” the foundation is, at the very least, making a statement about what it means to be American.”
I’ve already reported that home sales in the Santa Fe market came back strong in 2017, with the highest number of closed sales since 2006. The residential bounce is now confirmed for the rest of the state as well, with the Realtors Association of New Mexico reporting that 2017 saw the highest number of sales since the organization started keeping totals in 2008.
The 22,221 sales were 11 percent higher than the 19,933 sales in 2016. The 2017 median price of $190,000 is the highest since 2008. Median price indicates half the properties sold for more and half for less.
In 2008, the first year the statewide group kept data, there were 14,625 closed sales in the 33 New Mexico counties, with a median price of $186,000.
“The majority of New Mexico counties saw an increase in sales during 2017,” said Connie Hettinga, the 2018 association president in a statement. “Bernalillo, Eddy, Dona Ana, San Juan, Santa Fe, and Valencia counties showed the biggest gains in sales numbers. Of course, all real estate is local, so while the majority of New Mexico counties reported growth during 2017, we have a number of counties with 2017 numbers lower than those reported in 2016.”
There are still big unknowns about 2018, with the largest factor being higher interest rates, which is already slowing mortgage applications.
The National Association of Realtors also is projecting slower sales in more expensive markets as a result of changes in the federal tax law that places new restrictions on deductions for mortgage interest and state and local taxes.
This is my last column for The New Mexican. In 21 years at this newspaper, I’ve covered everything from the drug overdose epidemic to health care, housing, tourism, state finances and Santa Fe business.
This is a rich and robust community. The business leaders are dedicated, innovative and continue to transform industries from entertainment (Meow Wolf ) to satellite imaging (Descartes Labs) and finance (Thornburg Investment Management).
Smart people live and work here for very good reasons, and they continue to come. It has been an honor to tell your story. If you have business news or a story tip, please contact Howard Houghton at hhoughton@sfnewmexican.com or 505-986-3015.
I am staying in Santa Fe but moving on to another field as a government background investigator. If you want to stay in touch, please find me on LinkedIn, Twitter or drop me line, brucekrasnow@gmail.com.