New Report Ranks NH Number One In Job Opportunities

By Andrew Mahaleris, NH Journal

The good news about New Hampshire’s post-COVID economy continues to roll in as the state bounces back quickly during its recovery from the pandemic.

A new report from the data analysts at WalletHub found that New Hampshire is the top-ranked state in the country in job opportunities and also has the nation’s third-lowest unemployment rate. As NHJournal reported last month, New Hampshire had the lowest unemployment rate in the country, while national unemployment numbers ticked up.

During a GOP governor’s roundtable on Fox News last month, N.H. Gov. Chris Sununu joked with South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, whose state’s unemployment rate is tied with New Hampshire, that he thought the Granite State did a better job.

“We without a doubt led the charge on the flexibility, the opportunity, and now the economy, right? As Governor Noem points out of 2.8 percent, I think we have 2.7 percent unemployment,” said Sununu at the time, spurring laughs from Noem and the audience.

Jim Roche, President of the New Hampshire Business and Industry Association, praised the new report.

“These rankings reflect the fact that most New Hampshire elected and appointed state policy leaders know it’s the private sector that drives economic growth and prosperity, not government,” Roche told NHJournal. “The surest way to ensure job growth and a strong economy is for government to create a legal and regulatory framework that is fair and balanced, but does not inappropriately hamper private enterprises from meeting the needs of their customers.

Sununu continues to enjoy sky-high approval ratings coming out of the pandemic, and the red-hot economy is likely a contributing factor. New Hampshire was the first New England state to ditch its mask mandate and lift capacity restrictions on businesses, and now the economy is soaring.

In a Granite State Poll from the University of New Hampshire released late last month, Sununu’s approval rating for his handling of the virus was an impressive 72 percent. His approval was even higher among independent voters, at 80 percent.

WalletHub says they conducted their study by comparing “the 50 states across 35 key indicators of job-market strength, opportunity and economic vitality. The data set ranges from employment growth to median annual income to average commute time.”

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.