GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS ON NEW MEXICO’S ECONOMY. JEFFREY MITCHELL, DIRECTOR OF UNM’S BUREAU OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC RESEARCH, SAYS THE STATE’S ECONOMY IS IMPROVING. THE ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL REPORTS THAT STATEMENT IS UNDERSCORED BY THE NUMBER OF OIL RIGS OPERATING HERE NOW. THAT NUMBER FELL TO 13 ABOUT A YEAR AGO BUT HAS CLIMBED BACK TO 58, WHICH MITCHELL CALLS A “POSITIVE TREND.”
BUT HE ALSO SAYS THE GREAT RECESSION MAY HAVE CHANGED THE STATE’S STRUCTURE, WHICH IS A PROBLEM. MITCHELL ALSO SAYS NEW MEXICO CONTINUES TO LOSE ITS COLLEGE GRADUATES IN THEIR 20S AND 30S TO OTHER STATES.
