BLS Data Shows South Central Region Tops in Job Creation

In both Q1 and Q2 2018, the South Central region pulled ahead of the Pacific in total job creation, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The BLS released second-quarter employment data by state on Friday. The state data follows the national figures that were published on July 6 and confirm the strength of the labor market.

The states compile their employment numbers independently of the feds, and then both are reported by the BLS. In the 22 quarters since and including Q1 2013, the feds reported total job creation of 13,848,000 and the states reported 13,648,000, a difference of just 1.5 percent. Our report covers only the lower 48 states; therefore, the fed and state totals are impressively close. Figure 1 shows the history of state totals since 1992, and Figure 2 shows the same format for the Pacific region. Job creation in the Pacific region fell from 184,000 in Q4 2017 to 59,000 in Q2 2018. SMU has graphs in the same format for 10 geographic regions and can produce them for individual states on request.