U.S. employment growth in the first quarter of 2026 accelerated slightly to 0.2% relative to one year ago. However, the national average masks significant variation in job growth across the 50 states: 21 of the 50 states had job growth, 28 had job losses, and 1 state (Delaware) had no change relative to one year ago. The median state had a slight job loss of 0.05%.
The FRED map above shows the percent change from a year ago in employment in each state during the first quarter. Nevada and North Carolina showed signs of resilient growth, with the top net job gains of 2.1% and 0.9%, respectively. In stark contrast, the District of Columbia and Maryland had the largest net job loss at 5.2% and 1.7%, respectively.
Metro-level job growth had similar trends as we see in the state-level data, with the median MSA also experiencing no change in employment in the first quarter of 2026 relative to one year ago. The Sierra Vista-Douglas MSA in Arizona had the largest net job loss at -4.6%. In contrast, the Merced MSA in California had the strongest job growth at 3.3%. These numbers tend to vary greatly from quarter to quarter, with even greater sampling errors than the errors at the state and national levels. So, be careful not to read too much into these data.
How these maps were created: Search FRED for “total nonfarm employees in Missouri” (or any other state). Click “View Map” and then “Edit Map.” Change the units to “Percent Change from Year Ago” and the frequency to quarterly with aggregation method “End of Period.” Under “Format,” select “User Defined Method” for how to group the data: Switch the number of color groups to 3 and change the colors to red for states that shed jobs (or a value less than or equal to -0.4), light yellow for states with modest job growth (or less than 0.4), and dark green for states with strong growth (or a value large enough to incorporate the rest of the states). For the second map, repeat the process with an MSA—St. Louis, for example.
Suggested by Charles Gascon and Rehann Silvanus.