It's possible that the loud thud workers heard in January was Santa Fe's job market hitting bottom.

Raw numbers released Thursday by the state Department of Workforce Solutions show February unemployment in Santa Fe County was 7.2 percent, up significantly from the 5.5 percent a year ago.

But the drop from January's 7.7 percent rate was big enough that economists warned there's likely some statistical glitch that won't be known for months, said Mark Boyd with Workforce Solutions. Still, he said it's likely private-sector employment losses have stabilized — though it will be years before New Mexico gets back to pre-recession levels.

"The Santa Fe job market has been weak for over two years but appears to be showing some signs of improvement," according to an analysis by Workforce Solutions.

Statewide, the unemployment rate was 8.7 percent in February, up from 8.5 percent in January. A year ago the statewide rate was 6.1 percent.

Santa Fe saw an increase of 1,100 jobs between January and February this year, with no industries reporting job declines. There were 600 more jobs than last winter in the leisure and hospitality industry, according to the state.

Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce President Simon Brackley agreed that things are no longer getting worse, and there has been a winter bounce from the healthy ski season.

"Someone told me last week they couldn't find a pair of kid's skis to rent anywhere," he said.

Some firms are starting to add temporary or contract workers, he said, and, if there is a strong spring, those may convert to full-time jobs.

The weakest sector in Santa Fe continues to be construction, where the February work force of 2,700 jobs was down from 3,400 a year earlier and 4,400 jobs in February 2008.

Silas Peterson, managing partner of Santa Fe Staffing, which provides temporary office help to businesses, hasn't seen any increased demand. And the construction arm of the business, Buffalo Builders, gets almost no inquiries.

Still, Peterson said, "It's been a long, slow decline, and it doesn't seem like we're slowing down anymore."

Rob Day, owner of Santa Fe Bar & Grill and San Francisco Street Bar & Grill, said he was using a skeleton crew through the winter and got caught short-staffed for one busy week — when the Texas schools were on spring vacation.

His business will go forward with the typical hiring pattern of bringing more employees on for the summer, and those jobs will likely go to older, more experienced people. "We have college students and college grads looking for work," he said.

In the coming months, Boyd expects a statewide lift from U.S. Census hiring — and then a decline in government jobs as state, local and school districts reset budgets due to lower tax revenues.

"There will be a statewide boost from the Census," he said. "It will be there for a few more months and then those jobs will be gone."

Contact Bruce Krasnow at brucek@sfnewmexican.com.