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Bureau of Labor Statistics > Geographic Information > Southwest > Table

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
2024		 Jul
2025		 Aug
2025		 Sep
2025		 Sep 2024 to
Sep 2025
Net
change		 Percent
change

United States

 168,703 170,342 170,778 171,248 2,545 1.5

West South Central Division

 21,202.2 21,351.8 21,367.2 21,399.2 197.0 0.9

Arkansas

 1,415.5 1,424.7 1,427.2 1,430.6 15.1 1.1

Louisiana

 2,082.2 2,075.1 2,075.3 2,076.5 -5.7 -0.3

Oklahoma

 1,989.1 2,003.2 2,007.1 2,012.7 23.6 1.2

Texas

 15,715.0 15,848.7 15,857.3 15,879.0 164.1 1.0

Mountain Division

 13,405.8 13,472.9 13,467.1 13,480.8 75.0 0.6

Arizona

 3,756.7 3,798.5 3,802.4 3,816.5 59.8 1.6

Colorado

 3,278.8 3,280.3 3,275.6 3,272.3 -6.5 -0.2

Idaho

 1,009.0 1,010.0 1,009.4 1,010.1 1.1 0.1

Montana

 579.7 575.3 575.7 576.5 -3.2 -0.5

Nevada

 1,656.5 1,681.0 1,679.7 1,681.0 24.5 1.5

New Mexico

 985.6 991.5 990.7 990.2 4.6 0.5

Utah

 1,841.8 1,845.2 1,843.2 1,844.0 2.2 0.1

Wyoming

 297.4 291.2 290.5 290.2 -7.2 -2.4

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
2024		 Jul
2025		 Aug
2025		 Sep
2025		 Sep 2024 to
Sep 2025
Net
change		 Percent
change

United States

 6,901 7,236 7,384 7,603 702 10.2

West South Central Division

 868.0 842.8 851.5 867.3 -0.7 -0.1

Arkansas

 49.7 53.1 53.9 55.8 6.0 12.2

Louisiana

 95.4 92.8 91.4 90.8 -4.6 -4.8

Oklahoma

 65.2 61.8 62.3 64.3 -0.9 -1.4

Texas

 657.2 635.1 643.8 656.1 -1.1 -0.2

Mountain Division

 555.7 558.4 550.4 552.0 -3.6 -0.7

Arizona

 143.0 156.1 157.1 160.5 17.5 12.2

Colorado

 148.0 148.1 139.2 134.3 -13.6 -9.2

Idaho

 38.1 36.9 37.0 37.3 -0.8 -2.2

Montana

 17.2 16.2 16.6 17.4 0.2 1.1

Nevada

 95.1 90.0 88.5 88.7 -6.3 -6.6

New Mexico

 42.9 41.3 40.9 40.8 -2.1 -4.8

Utah

 60.7 60.5 61.7 63.5 2.8 4.5

Wyoming

 10.3 9.5 9.4 9.5 -0.9 -8.4

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
2024		 Jul
2025		 Aug
2025		 Sep
2025		 Net change
Sep 2024 to
Sep 2025

United States

 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 0.3

West South Central Division

 4.1 3.9 4.0 4.1 0.0

Arkansas

 3.5 3.7 3.8 3.9 0.4

Louisiana

 4.6 4.5 4.4 4.4 -0.2

Oklahoma

 3.3 3.1 3.1 3.2 -0.1

Texas

 4.2 4.0 4.1 4.1 -0.1

Mountain Division

 4.1 4.1 4.1 4.1 0.0

Arizona

 3.8 4.1 4.1 4.2 0.4

Colorado

 4.5 4.5 4.2 4.1 -0.4

Idaho

 3.8 3.7 3.7 3.7 -0.1

Montana

 3.0 2.8 2.9 3.0 0.0

Nevada

 5.7 5.4 5.3 5.3 -0.4

New Mexico

 4.3 4.2 4.1 4.1 -0.2

Utah

 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.4 0.1

Wyoming

 3.5 3.3 3.2 3.3 -0.2

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
2024		 Jul
2025		 Aug
2025		 Sep
2025		 Net change
Sep 2024 to
Sep 2025

Arkansas

Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR

 2.5 3.4 3.2 3.3 0.8

Fort Smith, AR-OK

 3.2 4.1 4.1 4.2 1.0

Hot Springs

 3.4 4.4 4.2 4.5 1.1

Jonesboro

 2.9 4.1 3.9 3.9 1.0

Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway

 3.0 4.0 3.9 4.0 1.0

Texarkana, TX-AR

 4.0 4.5 4.7 4.5 0.5

Louisiana

Alexandria

 4.3 4.3 4.0 4.1 -0.2

Baton Rouge

 4.3 4.5 4.2 4.2 -0.1

Hammond

 5.1 5.5 4.9 5.1 0.0

Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux

 4.2 4.1 3.9 4.2 0.0

Lafayette

 4.0 4.0 3.7 3.9 -0.1

Lake Charles

 4.8 4.8 4.5 4.7 -0.1

Monroe

 5.0 5.0 4.7 4.8 -0.2

New Orleans-Metairie

 4.6 4.8 4.4 4.5 -0.1

Shreveport-Bossier City

 4.6 4.6 4.3 4.4 -0.2

Slidell-Mandeville-Covington

 4.2 4.1 3.9 4.1 -0.1

New Mexico

Albuquerque

 3.9 5.0 4.2 3.9 0.0

Farmington

 4.6 6.0 4.7 4.5 -0.1

Las Cruces

 4.5 6.0 4.8 4.5 0.0

Santa Fe

 3.7 4.5 3.7 3.6 -0.1

Oklahoma

Enid

 3.0 2.9 3.1 3.3 0.3

Lawton

 3.5 3.4 3.8 4.0 0.5

Oklahoma City

 3.0 3.0 3.3 3.4 0.4

Tulsa

 3.1 3.1 3.4 3.5 0.4

Texas

Abilene

 3.4 3.6 4.0 3.7 0.3

Amarillo

 3.1 3.2 3.6 3.3 0.2

Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos

 3.5 3.5 3.9 3.8 0.3

Beaumont-Port Arthur

 5.4 5.3 5.9 5.6 0.2

Brownsville-Harlingen

 5.1 7.2 7.4 7.3 2.2

College Station-Bryan

 3.4 3.9 4.2 3.7 0.3

Corpus Christi

 4.3 4.5 5.0 4.7 0.4

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington

 3.9 4.0 4.4 4.2 0.3

Dallas-Plano-Irving(1)

 3.9 4.0 4.4 4.2 0.3

Fort Worth-Arlington-Grapevine(1)

 3.9 3.9 4.3 4.1 0.2

Eagle Pass

 6.8 9.3 8.9 8.9 2.1

El Paso

 4.1 4.5 4.9 4.8 0.7

Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands

 4.4 4.5 5.0 4.8 0.4

Killeen-Temple

 4.6 4.7 5.2 5.0 0.4

Laredo

 4.0 4.7 5.0 4.7 0.7

Longview

 4.8 4.6 5.1 4.8 0.0

Lubbock

 3.5 3.8 4.0 3.7 0.2

McAllen-Edinburg-Mission

 5.8 6.7 7.0 6.5 0.7

Midland

 2.9 3.1 3.5 3.3 0.4

Odessa

 3.6 3.8 4.2 4.1 0.5

San Angelo

 3.2 3.2 3.7 3.4 0.2

San Antonio-New Braunfels

 3.8 3.9 4.4 4.2 0.4

Sherman-Denison

 3.8 3.9 4.4 4.1 0.3

Texarkana, TX-AR

 4.0 4.5 4.7 4.5 0.5

Tyler

 3.8 4.7 4.3 4.1 0.3

Victoria

 4.0 4.3 4.9 4.5 0.5

Waco

 3.8 4.1 4.4 4.2 0.4

Wichita Falls

 3.7 3.9 4.2 4.0 0.3

Footnotes
(1) Metropolitan Division

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
2024		 Jul
2025		 Aug
2025		 Sep
2025		 Sep 2024 to
Sep 2025
Net
change		 Percent
change

United States

 158,314 159,511 159,485 159,593 1,279 0.8

Arkansas

 1,367.7 1,383.3 1,385.4 (p)1,389.3 (p)21.6 (p)1.6

Louisiana

 1,982.0 2,002.8 2,000.9 (p)2,002.1 (p)20.1 (p)1.0

New Mexico

 888.4 907.9 904.5 (p)904.5 (p)16.1 (p)1.8

Oklahoma

 1,780.3 1,801.3 1,801.9 (p)1,805.1 (p)24.8 (p)1.4

Texas

 14,175.8 14,330.1 14,339.2 (p)14,343.8 (p)168.0 (p)1.2

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.