Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 28 states in July compared to the previous month, while 22 states saw a decrease. The District of Columbia reported no change. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nationwide total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 114,000 in July, following a gain of 179,000 jobs in June.
On a month-over-month basis, employment data was most favorable in New York, which added 41,400 jobs, followed by Florida (+21,800), and then California (+21,100). A total of 81,700 jobs were lost across the 22 states, with Missouri reporting the steepest job losses at 22,400. In percentage terms, employment increased the highest in Vermont at 0.5%, while Missouri saw the biggest decline at 0.7% between June and July.
Year-over-year ending in July, 2.5 million jobs have been added to the labor market across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The range of job gains spanned from 1,900 jobs in Wyoming to 284,400 jobs in California. In percentage terms, the range of job growth spanned 3.7% in South Carolina to 0.4% in Oregon.
Across the nation, construction sector jobs data[1]—which includes both residential and non-residential construction—showed that 29 states and the District of Columbia reported an increase in July compared to June, while 16 states lost construction sector jobs. The five remaining states reported no change on a month-over-month basis. Florida, with the highest increase, added 6,300 construction jobs, while New York, on the other end of the spectrum, lost 3,800 jobs. Overall, the construction industry added a net 25,000 jobs in July compared to the previous month. In percentage terms, Tennessee reported the highest increase at 3.3% and Arkansas reported the largest decline at 1.2%.
Year-over-year, construction sector jobs in the U.S. increased by 239,000, which is a 3.0% increase compared to the July 2023 level. Florida added 36,700 jobs, which was the largest gain of any state, while New York lost 8,100 construction sector jobs. In percentage terms, Alaska had the highest annual growth rate in the construction sector at 19.9%. Over this period, Maine reported the largest decline of 4.1%.
[1] For this analysis, BLS combined employment totals for mining, logging, and construction are treated as construction employment for the District of Columbia, Delaware, and Hawaii.
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