
(Deming) -- Luna County's unemployment rate dropped in May.
Preliminary figures from the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions show Luna County with a May unemployment rate of 17.5%, down from the revised April unemployment rate of 19.7%, and down from the May 2012 rate of 19.3%.
Following Luna County in the list of New Mexico counties with the worst unemployment was Mora County with 12.3%. Luna and Mora continue to be the only two New Mexico counties with double-digit unemployment.
Rounding out the top five counties with the highest unemployment rates in the state in May were Taos at 9.5%, McKinley with 8.6% and Guadalupe at 8.3% unemployment.
In our area, Grant County had 6.4% unemployment in May, Hidalgo County had 6.6% and the Las Cruces area had 7.3%.
The county with the least unemployment remained Los Alamos with 3.6%.
The state unemployment rate for May – at 6.7% – was the same as the April revised rate and down from the May 2012 rate of 7%.
The New Mexico labor force estimates show Luna County with a labor force of 12,092 – with 9,972 employed and 2,120 unemployed.