Washington, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC) released the October 2011 edition of its state-by-state snapshots which detail each individual state’s economic progress for the previous month. This report shows that despite an improvement in the national employment report, only 22 states saw an expansion in their private-sector employment in September with three states, Texas, Florida and California, accounting for over half of the private-sector gains.
Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), Chairman of the JEC, said, “Even though private-sector job creation picked up in September, many states are continuing to struggle in the wake of the Great Recession. Congress must focus on passing legislation that will provide businesses with necessary incentives to promote hiring and stimulate our economy. This is why I have introduced the Small Business Job Creation Tax Credit Act of 2011, which will create a one-year, quarterly payroll tax credit that provides businesses incentives to add employees and to reverse cuts in salaries and worker hours. Washington must do more to encourage businesses to hire and get people back to work.”
Report highlights include:
- Twenty-two states added private-sector jobs in September, with Texas (26,500), Florida (24,300) and California (18,800) achieving the largest gains.
- Twenty-five states and the District of Colombia saw their unemployment rates decline this month, with three of those states recording statistically significant declines.
- Manufacturing employment expanded in 18 states in September. The largest gains were in Indiana, which added 1,600 manufacturing jobs, followed by Georgia and Washington (1,200 each). Overall the United States has added 196,000 manufacturing jobs in the past twelve months.
The report, entitled “Understanding the Economy: State-by-State Snapshots”, features key economic statistics for each state. The report is the tenth edition of 2011 released by the Chairman of the JEC and uses recently released state-level data to explain how the economic recovery is unfolding in each state.
To see individual state snapshots, click here.
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