Job Growth by State
California, Texas, and Florida, the states with the largest number of small businesses, are also the three states that added the largest number of jobs in Q2 2023. But what about growth in terms of percentage increase? Which state has the highest job growth?
Here’s a look at the rankings of job growth by state.
Job growth by state 2023 Q2: top 10
|
State |
Q2 2023 job growth |
|---|---|
|
1. Alaska |
11.0% |
|
2. Wyoming |
8.4% |
|
3. Idaho |
7.9% |
|
4. Montana |
7.8% |
|
5. Maine |
7.6% |
|
6. Vermont |
7.4% |
|
7. Colorado |
7.3% |
|
8. Arizona |
7.0% |
|
9. North Dakota |
6.9% |
|
10. Florida, New Jersey, South Dakota, Utah |
6.8% |
According to the latest state job growth rankings, Alaska saw the biggest increase in job creation in Q2 2023. This refers to jobs gained represented as a percentage of the state’s total employment. In the second quarter of last year, Alaska added 11% more jobs—the state’s biggest increase in at least five quarters. Alaska is also the only state that saw job growth increase by more than 10% in Q2 2023.
This is followed by Wyoming and Idaho, which gained 8.4% and 7.9% more jobs, respectively. Fourth on the list ranking job growth rate by state is Montana, with 7.8%. Maine rounds out the five states with the highest job growth in Q2 2023, with 7.6%.
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Next on the ranking of states with highest job growth is Vermont, with 7.4%. Colorado is close behind in seventh place, with 7.3%. Arizona and North Dakota rank next, with around 7% each. In joint 10th place are Florida, New Jersey, South Dakota, and Utah. These four states had a job growth rate of 6.8% each.
State job growth rankings 2023 Q2: bottom 11
Looking at the bottom end of the list ranking job growth by state, we see that Alabama, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, and Tennessee added 5.9% more jobs to their economies in Q2 2023. This makes them the states with the 40th biggest job growth.
Texas and Arkansas follow with job growth rates of 5.8% each. Hawaii ranks next, having created 5.7% more jobs in Q2 2023. Meanwhile, Kentucky, Ohio, and Wisconsin are the states with the lowest job growth, with 5.6%—nearly half of Alaska’s.
It’s worth noting that six of these bottom 11 states saw their job growth rates slow in Q2 2023, when compared to the previous quarter. The only three states to have increased their growth rates are Massachusetts, Michigan, and Hawaii. Tennessee and Arkansas’s growth rates held steady from Q1 2023 to Q2 2023.