State hiring resilient in September
|Summary
Payroll growth widespread, but unemployment rates on the rise
- Payroll gains were shared broadly across states in September. Forty-one states added headcounts over the month, the highest share since May.
- Texas led the charge with 29.2K net new payrolls in September. New Jersey took second place, beating out Florida and California. Payroll growth in the Garden State accelerated to 19.2K in September, its highest level in a year.
- Eight states shed headcounts over the month. Iowa and Wisconsin posted the most substantial declines, contracting by over 4K payrolls each in September.
- Despite the downtrend in the national unemployment rate, September marked the fifth sequential month that a greater number of states registered rising unemployment rates.
- Rising unemployment at the state level points to softer regional labor market conditions and serves as a reminder that recession risks are still elevated. The share of states experiencing a trend rise in the unemployment rate numbered 34 in September, once again breaching the threshold that has historically signaled recession.
- In September, unemployment rates moved higher in 16 states and lower in only three. South Carolina and Utah saw the greatest upticks in their unemployment rates, which rose by 20 bps each. Jobless rates dipped in Connecticut, New Hampshire and New Jersey.
- Washington, DC and Nevada hold the highest unemployment rates in the nation. At 5.6% in September, Nevada's unemployment rate is currently at its highest level since 2016 outside of the pandemic era. Meanwhile, South Dakota, Vermont and North Dakota maintain the lowest unemployment rates among states.
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