September State Payrolls Continue to Confirm a Flat Labor Market

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The monthly State Employment Reports from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics continue to provide little in the way of useful information. Rather, they simply confirm that the US labor market is stuck in the mud. There was little change in state labor statistics reported in the September release. Just two states posted m/m increases in nonfarm payrolls in the month, New Jersey and South Carolina, while Wisconsin saw a decrease. No substantive change was reported for the remaining 47 states. On a y/y basis, seven states posted what the BLS considered statistically significant employment gains, with South Carolina heading the list with a  2.3% y/y increase. All of the employment sectors in South Carolina saw y/y gains, but professional services and health and ed posted the most notable gains. Louisiana and Utah rounded out the top three, with Louisiana enjoying a boost in construction employment and Utah benefiting from growth in construction and professional services employment. The one entity that continues to see a y/y decline in payrolls is the District of Columbia, whose nonfarm payrolls were down 3.5% y/y in September. As has been the case for months, DC continues to be significantly impacted by cuts in government employment. The below exhibit is reproduced from the BLS release.


Source: USBLS


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