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March State NFP Report Reflects Flat Labor Market

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Another incredibly boring State Employment Report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The current US low hire/low fire economy is clearly reflected in these state numbers. According to today’s BLS report there was no meaningful m/m change in state unemployment rates in March. Over the year, only Connecticut, Delaware, and Florida posted u-rate increases of over 1%. Of the three, Florida is notable for seeing a significant y/y increase in the number of unemployed, from approximately 403,000 in March 2025, to an estimated 523,000 in March 2026. However, Florida did see a m/m increase in employment in March of 28,100, primarily from the construction and business services sectors. The other states seeing statistically meaningful NFP increases in March were Texas and Tennessee. On a y/y basis, payrolls in Maryland, DC continue to suffer from reductions in government employment, while Nevada posted the largest y/y percentage gain in total employment, thanks principally to growth in the ...
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PJM Interconnection: Over 800 New Power Projects Looking to Connect to the Grid

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PJM Interconnection says it has received applications for 811 projects, totaling 220 GW, to connect to the grid. PJM redesigned its interconnection process in 2023 and the window for this first round of new applicants closed on April 27, 2026. PJM says its new process moves it from the “prior first-come, first-served model with a first-ready, first-served approach”. The applications include, among others, those for natural gas, solar, wind, storage, nuclear generation, and one for a fusion power facility. You can find a link to PJM’s press release here .   
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Washington State Business Sentiment Continues to Deteriorate

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The results of the most recent Washington Employers Survey from the Association of Washington Businesses reflect a continued erosion of sentiment among the state’s businesses. According to the survey, conducted April 8-22, 24% of Washington State businesses are considering relocating to another state. That’s an increase of seven percentage points since the last quarterly survey. Similarly, the number of business leaders considering moving their personal residences out of Washington State rose from 44% to 55%. Further, expansion of existing operations in Washington State is looking less likely, with only only 9% of businesses considering expanding in-state compared to 14% in the last survey, while 38% plan to expand their businesses in another state, up from 30% last quarter. Finally, only 7% consider the state’s economy to be strong, down three percentage points from the last survey. Taxes are cited as the number one business challenge by 72% of the respondents, an increase of eight p...
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Maryland: Groundbreaking for Expansion of Baltimore Port Facilities

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Work began on a major expansion of Baltimore’s port facilities last Friday. When construction is fully completed in 2029, the former Bethlehem Steel site will be home to the Sparrows Point Container Terminal. The Terminal, to be run by the privately held Tradepoint Atlantic, will increase Baltimore’s existing container capacity by 70%. Its two berths and seven cranes will be able to accept an estimated 1 million containers per year and will give Baltimore the third largest container capacity on the East Coast. 
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Kentucky: Governor Cites Record-Breaking $7 Billion in Capital Investment in 2026 YTD

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Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear says that the first four months of 2026 saw the largest economic investment in the state’s history. He cites significant investment in battery production facilities, among other investments, from Ford, AESC, Shelbyville Battery Manufacturing, and Toyota. Here's a link to the press release from the Governor's office, which also touts rating upgrades by Moody's, S&P and Fitch. 
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Washington State’s Cost of Living

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A new study by the Washington Roundtable looks at the twin issues of cost of living and affordability in Washington State. The report finds that the state is the fifth most expensive place to live in the US behind California, DC, New Jersey, and Hawaii. Using the US BEA’s Regional Price Parities, the report notes that the state had an RPP score of 108.6 (US index level is 100) in 2023 compared to 102.5 in 2013, and that during this ten year period, the state’s RPP score increased faster than that of any other state. 
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Report: Rhode Island Growth Lagging US

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A new report from the Rhode Island Public Expenditures Council finds that the state’s economic growth falls short of the US average on several measures. The report, Rhode Island 2026 Economic Prosperity Scorecard , uses publicly available data on state GDP, income and cost of living to show that Rhode Island’s GDP growth is lagging both that of its neighboring New England states and of the U.S as a whole. The study’s authors attribute some of this underperformance to the high percentage of the state’s GDP that is generated by health and education, which they consider to be low productivity sectors. The study also finds that while Rhode Island’s personal income measures put it in the top half of all states, the state’s relatively high cost of living drops its real personal income ranking to the bottom third of states.
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