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Southwest - Labor Force Statistics

 
Civilian labor force in the West South Central and Mountain states, seasonally adjusted (in thousands)
Area

(Links provide news releases)		 Back
data		 Sep
2025		 Jul
2026		 Aug
2026		 Sep
2026		 Sep 2025 to
Sep 2026
Net
change		 Percent
change

United States

 171,261 169,094 169,777 170,262 -999 -0.6

West South Central Division

 21,509.7 21,481.3 21,496.2 21,510.2 0.5 0.0

Arkansas

 1,443.6 1,457.9 1,458.0 (p)1,459.2 (p)15.6 (p)1.1

Louisiana

 2,098.6 2,110.6 2,107.5 (p)2,103.0 (p)4.4 (p)0.2

Oklahoma

 2,022.5 1,997.3 1,998.0 (p)1,999.6 (p)-22.9 (p)-1.1

Texas

 15,944.8 15,915.5 15,932.6 (p)15,948.4 (p)3.6 (p)0.0

Mountain Division

 13,446.8 13,232.3 13,213.9 13,198.6 -248.2 -1.8

Arizona

 3,812.5 3,709.9 3,701.9 (p)3,691.2 (p)-121.2 (p)-3.2

Colorado

 3,254.0 3,188.9 3,182.4 (p)3,179.3 (p)-74.7 (p)-2.3

Idaho

 1,008.9 998.9 998.3 (p)997.8 (p)-11.1 (p)-1.1

Montana

 578.6 574.5 574.6 (p)574.6 (p)-3.9 (p)-0.7

Nevada

 1,678.4 1,681.6 1,675.6 (p)1,670.3 (p)-8.2 (p)-0.5

New Mexico

 984.0 970.8 969.7 (p)968.4 (p)-15.6 (p)-1.6

Utah

 1,842.3 1,822.5 1,826.3 (p)1,831.9 (p)-10.3 (p)-0.6

Wyoming

 288.0 285.2 285.0 (p)285.0 (p)-3.0 (p)-1.0

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

Source: Local Area Unemployment Statistics
The State and regional data above are a product of the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program, a Federal-State cooperative program in which total employment and unemployment are measured for approximately 7,200 areas.
 
Unemployed in the West South Central and Mountain states, seasonally adjusted (in thousands)
Area

(Links provide news releases)		 Back
data		 Sep
2025		 Jul
2026		 Aug
2026		 Sep
2026		 Sep 2025 to
Sep 2026
Net
change		 Percent
change

United States

 7,605 6,916 7,031 7,109 -496 -6.5

West South Central Division

 904.5 944.6 937.9 927.1 22.6 2.5

Arkansas

 61.3 58.7 56.9 (p)56.2 (p)-5.1 (p)-8.3

Louisiana

 89.0 92.2 88.2 (p)84.6 (p)-4.3 (p)-4.8

Oklahoma

 72.5 85.4 85.2 (p)84.2 (p)11.6 (p)16.1

Texas

 681.5 708.4 707.5 (p)702.0 (p)20.5 (p)3.0

Mountain Division

 555.5 565.0 564.3 561.9 6.4 1.2

Arizona

 167.5 181.3 182.3 (p)179.2 (p)11.7 (p)7.0

Colorado

 125.1 125.0 128.2 (p)131.9 (p)6.9 (p)5.5

Idaho

 36.7 36.2 36.2 (p)36.2 (p)-0.4 (p)-1.2

Montana

 20.2 18.6 18.3 (p)17.9 (p)-2.3 (p)-11.3

Nevada

 87.9 84.4 81.1 (p)78.8 (p)-9.1 (p)-10.3

New Mexico

 41.2 46.2 45.7 (p)46.0 (p)4.7 (p)11.5

Utah

 67.1 64.8 64.1 (p)63.2 (p)-3.9 (p)-5.8

Wyoming

 9.7 8.6 8.5 (p)8.6 (p)-1.1 (p)-11.6

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

Source: Local Area Unemployment Statistics
The State and regional data above are a product of the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program, a Federal-State cooperative program in which total employment and unemployment are measured for approximately 7,200 areas.
 
Unemployment rates in the West South Central and Mountain states, seasonally adjusted (in percent)
Area

(Links provide news releases)		 Back
data		 Sep
2025		 Jul
2026		 Aug
2026		 Sep
2026		 Net change
Sep 2025 to
Sep 2026

United States

 4.4 4.1 4.1 4.2 -0.2

West South Central Division

 4.2 4.4 4.4 4.3 0.1

Arkansas

 4.2 4.0 3.9 (p)3.9 (p)-0.3

Louisiana

 4.2 4.4 4.2 (p)4.0 (p)-0.2

Oklahoma

 3.6 4.3 4.3 (p)4.2 (p)0.6

Texas

 4.3 4.5 4.4 (p)4.4 (p)0.1

Mountain Division

 4.1 4.3 4.3 4.3 0.2

Arizona

 4.4 4.9 4.9 (p)4.9 (p)0.5

Colorado

 3.8 3.9 4.0 (p)4.1 (p)0.3

Idaho

 3.6 3.6 3.6 (p)3.6 (p)0.0

Montana

 3.5 3.2 3.2 (p)3.1 (p)-0.4

Nevada

 5.2 5.0 4.8 (p)4.7 (p)-0.5

New Mexico

 4.2 4.8 4.7 (p)4.7 (p)0.5

Utah

 3.6 3.6 3.5 (p)3.5 (p)-0.1

Wyoming

 3.4 3.0 3.0 (p)3.0 (p)-0.4

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

Source: Local Area Unemployment Statistics
The State and regional data above are a product of the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program, a Federal-State cooperative program in which total employment and unemployment are measured for approximately 7,200 areas.
 
Unemployment rates in Southwest states by Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), not seasonally adjusted (in percent)
Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)
(news release)
 Back
data		 Sep
2025		 Jul
2026		 Aug
2026		 Sep
2026		 Net change
Sep 2025 to
Sep 2026

Arkansas

Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR

 3.4 3.5 2.9 (p)3.1 (p)-0.3

Fort Smith, AR-OK

 4.2 4.5 3.8 (p)3.8 (p)-0.4

Hot Springs

 4.4 4.4 3.7 (p)3.7 (p)-0.7

Jonesboro

 4.0 4.2 3.5 (p)3.6 (p)-0.4

Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway

 4.0 4.2 3.6 (p)3.6 (p)-0.4

Texarkana, TX-AR

 4.6 4.8 4.5 (p)4.3 (p)-0.3

Louisiana

Alexandria

 4.1 4.0 3.5 (p)3.6 (p)-0.5

Baton Rouge

 4.2 4.1 3.6 (p)3.6 (p)-0.6

Hammond

 5.2 5.1 4.4 (p)4.4 (p)-0.8

Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux

 4.1 3.8 3.3 (p)3.6 (p)-0.5

Lafayette

 3.9 3.8 3.3 (p)3.4 (p)-0.5

Lake Charles

 4.6 4.3 3.8 (p)3.9 (p)-0.7

Monroe

 4.7 4.5 3.9 (p)4.0 (p)-0.7

New Orleans-Metairie

 4.5 4.5 3.9 (p)3.9 (p)-0.6

Shreveport-Bossier City

 4.3 4.2 3.6 (p)3.7 (p)-0.6

Slidell-Mandeville-Covington

 4.1 3.9 3.4 (p)3.6 (p)-0.5

New Mexico

Albuquerque

 3.9 5.5 4.8 (p)4.7 (p)0.8

Farmington

 4.3 6.4 5.2 (p)5.1 (p)0.8

Las Cruces

 4.4 6.2 5.3 (p)5.1 (p)0.7

Santa Fe

 3.6 4.9 4.2 (p)4.3 (p)0.7

Oklahoma

Enid

 3.2 4.2 3.8 (p)3.7 (p)0.5

Lawton

 4.0 5.1 4.6 (p)4.4 (p)0.4

Oklahoma City

 3.4 4.3 3.9 (p)3.7 (p)0.3

Tulsa

 3.5 4.6 4.1 (p)3.9 (p)0.4

Texas

Abilene

 3.6 3.9 3.7 (p)3.5 (p)-0.1

Amarillo

 3.3 3.9 3.7 (p)3.5 (p)0.2

Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos

 3.7 4.0 3.9 (p)3.7 (p)0.0

Beaumont-Port Arthur

 5.6 6.1 5.9 (p)5.3 (p)-0.3

Brownsville-Harlingen

 7.5 7.0 6.4 (p)5.9 (p)-1.6

College Station-Bryan

 3.7 4.3 4.0 (p)3.5 (p)-0.2

Corpus Christi

 4.6 5.0 4.8 (p)4.5 (p)-0.1

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington

 4.2 4.6 4.4 (p)4.1 (p)-0.1

Dallas-Plano-Irving(1)

 4.2 4.6 4.4 (p)4.1 (p)-0.1

Fort Worth-Arlington-Grapevine(1)

 4.1 4.6 4.3 (p)4.1 (p)0.0

Eagle Pass

 8.7 8.3 7.1 (p)6.2 (p)-2.5

El Paso

 4.8 4.8 4.6 (p)4.3 (p)-0.5

Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands

 4.8 5.1 5.0 (p)4.6 (p)-0.2

Killeen-Temple

 4.9 5.4 5.2 (p)4.9 (p)0.0

Laredo

 4.7 4.8 4.4 (p)4.1 (p)-0.6

Longview

 4.7 5.2 5.0 (p)4.6 (p)-0.1

Lubbock

 3.7 4.3 3.9 (p)3.7 (p)0.0

McAllen-Edinburg-Mission

 6.4 6.8 6.3 (p)5.6 (p)-0.8

Midland

 3.4 3.4 3.3 (p)3.2 (p)-0.2

Odessa

 4.1 4.3 4.0 (p)3.7 (p)-0.4

San Angelo

 3.4 3.8 3.6 (p)3.5 (p)0.1

San Antonio-New Braunfels

 4.2 4.7 4.5 (p)4.3 (p)0.1

Sherman-Denison

 4.1 4.6 4.4 (p)4.2 (p)0.1

Texarkana, TX-AR

 4.6 4.8 4.5 (p)4.3 (p)-0.3

Tyler

 4.1 4.4 4.2 (p)4.0 (p)-0.1

Victoria

 4.5 4.8 4.6 (p)4.4 (p)-0.1

Waco

 4.2 4.5 4.3 (p)4.0 (p)-0.2

Wichita Falls

 4.0 4.5 4.2 (p)3.9 (p)-0.1

Footnotes
(1) Metropolitan Division
(p) Preliminary

Source: Local Area Unemployment Statistics
The State and regional data above are a product of the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program, a Federal-State cooperative program in which total employment and unemployment are measured for approximately 7,200 areas.
 
Nonfarm wage and salary employment in Southwest States, seasonally adjusted (in thousands)
Area

(news release)		 Back
data		 Sep
2025		 Jul
2026		 Aug
2026		 Sep
2026		 Sep 2025 to
Sep 2026
Net
change		 Percent
change

United States

 158,548 158,882 (p)159,015 (p)159,044 (p)496 (p)0.3

Arkansas

 1,339.1 1,343.3 1,347.9 (p)1,350.8 (p)11.7 (p)0.9

Louisiana

 1,988.2 2,016.5 2,023.9 (p)2,024.2 (p)36.0 (p)1.8

New Mexico

 892.4 901.9 905.1 (p)904.3 (p)11.9 (p)1.3

Oklahoma

 1,785.4 1,797.9 1,799.7 (p)1,799.8 (p)14.4 (p)0.8

Texas

 14,307.0 14,463.7 14,472.4 (p)14,461.3 (p)154.3 (p)1.1

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

Source: Current Employment Statistics - National - State and Metropolitan Area
The Current Employment Statistics (CES) Survey is a monthly survey of business establishments which provides estimates of employment, hours, and earnings data by industry for the nation as a whole, all States, and most major metropolitan areas since 1939. The CES survey is a Federal-State cooperative program in which State employment security agencies prepare the data using concepts, definitions, and technical procedures prescribed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.