Albuquerque has seen its largest increase in jobs since 2009; there’s an upswing in new businesses; and gross receipts tax revenue is up, according to the latest data from the city.
The city’s latest job growth and economic data compares fiscal year 2015, which recently ended, to 2014.
Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry told Business First that the number he’s most excited about is 4,755. That’s the number of new business registrations in the city during the year.
“We’re adding jobs and a lot of things, but the best thing we’re seeing is people starting a business,” Berry said. “At the end of the day, starting a business is the best way to help.”
Business registrations for June were up 8 percent compared to one year ago — at 410. Though the city saw more businesses started in fiscal years 2013 and 2014, the city is still seeing more new registrations than the it did in fiscal years 2010, 2011 and 2012.
“We are light-years ahead of where we were, and we’ve been having quite a few meetings about it,” Berry said. “I think we’ve turned a corner.”
When it comes to job growth, the city saw 8,300 new jobs, or a 2.2 percent gain, year-over-year. And while the corner may have been turned, the city is still about seven percentage points behind its peer group in payroll employment gains and about five percentage points behind the national average.
The city’s June unemployment rate of 6 percent is better than the state average, which is 7.2 percent, but it still lags behind the national average of 5.5 percent.
In June, gross receipts taxes increased 5.5 percent year-over-year, and gained 3.3 percent throughout fiscal year 2015. Retail, professional/technical services and health care saw the biggest gains.
By: Dan Mayfield (Albuquerque Business First)
Click here to view source article.
