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Las Cruces labor force rises while unemployment edges to 4.4%, city economist reports
Summary
City economist Monica Torres told the Las Cruces City Council work session that labor force and payroll counts rose in fiscal year 2025 while the unemployment rate increased to 4.4%; matched taxable gross receipts grew modestly and construction and cannabis markets showed mixed trends.
Monica Torres, the city economist for Las Cruces Economic Development, told the City Council at its Aug. 25 work session that the city’s labor force and payrolls grew in fiscal year 2025 even as the unemployment rate rose to 4.4%.
Torres said, “the labor force rose 1.3, which is about almost 700 persons on average to a total of 54,000,” and that the number of payrolls increased about 0.8% (roughly 800 payrolls) to about 52,000. She reported the count of people actively looking for work rose 14% to about 2,391 and described the unemployment rate as having “ticked up from 3.9 to 4.4%.”
Why it matters: changes in employment, taxable sales and construction affect city revenues, service demand and capital planning. Torres’ presentation fed into council discussion about workforce needs and the city’s revenue forecast as officials prepare priorities tied to a recently approved gross receipts tax increase.
Key economic details presented - Labor market: Labor force +1.3% (~700 people); payrolls +0.8% (~800 payrolls); active job seekers +14% (~2,391). Unemployment rose from 3.9% to 4.4%. - Sector trends: Goods-producing employment rose 4.5% year-over-year; education and health services rose about 4%. Leisure and hospitality declined about 3.7%; other services declined about 3.6%. - Matched taxable gross receipts: Gross receipts increased about 3.4% year-over-year (about $4.4 million), to a reported total of roughly $102.13 billion (not adjusted for inflation in the presenter’s slide figures). Retail trade accounted for about 31% of matched receipts, healthcare and social assistance about 15%, and construction about 11%. - Construction and permits: Construction-sector matched receipts rose 18% to about $468 million; residential permits in the city declined about 10% (67 fewer permits) to 625 permits. - Cannabis market: Total cannabis sales declined ~8%; adult use sales declined ~5% and were about 70% of total sales in FY25 (up from ~68% in FY24); medical sales dropped ~14%. The city’s excise tax on cannabis revenue fell about 18% in the year noted. - Interest and inflation context: A national 30-year mortgage average eased slightly and headline CPI trended down from ~3.3% to ~2.6% year over year in the presenter’s comparison.
Council follow-up requests and staff responses Council members asked for additional breakdowns to inform workforce and revenue planning. Councilor Matisse asked whether the city could analyze the industries where people actively seeking work are concentrated; Torres said she would examine additional data sources beyond the Bureau of Labor Statistics to provide more sector- and skill-specific detail. Mayor Pro Tem Bencomo asked staff to include grocery price data in future analyses; Torres agreed to add that if feasible. Council members also asked for cannabis excise tax monthly figures and more conservative revenue scenarios; finance and economic staff indicated they could provide consolidated monthly excise data and that the forecast assumptions had been discussed with the city’s financial adviser.
What was not decided Council received the economic summary for information. No formal action or revenue changes were taken at the session; staff were asked to prepare additional data and scenario analyses for future meetings.
Ending Torres said city economic activity for the past fiscal year had been “solid,” but she and councilors noted uncertainty from national trends and asked staff to continue monitoring indicators that could affect local employment, consumer spending and revenue flows.
