Here's some real deal biz coverage to help close out the week. . .

A longtime ABQ dermatologist tells us that with recent retirements from the field, there is a shortage in the profession. She says many of the new dermatologists don't want to locate here because of a significant pay gap with other desert cities like Tucson. .. .

Meanwhile the latest jobs report shows ABQ employment picked up quite dramatically, adding over 7,000 jobs in November over November 2014. ABQ Mayor Berry was quick to tout that as a sign of a jobs recovery, but what is more important going forward is not the numbers of jobs but their quality and salaries. The burger flipping $10 an hour economy seems to be purring along but not the one with the good paying gigs.

None other than die-hard Berry backer Terri Cole, head of the ABQ Chamber of Commerce, was on the tube this week confirming that the city's low paying jobs are helping to stall out the housing market and leading to heavy demand for apartment rentals:

When we're struggling to kind of create the kind of high-wage jobs which are necessary for people, give them the incomes they need to get the loans to buy the house, then the alternative that we see are rental properties,” Cole said.

Watch it, Terri. Keep talking that way and Jay is going to have to force feed you the Berry-Martinez Kool-Aid. . .

But were they college-educated Millenials? We doubt it:

. . .The director of Albuquerque's Economic Development Department said that Albuquerque has gained millennials.The 2015 Syneva Economics report Gary Oppeddahl was referencing, "1999 to 2014 Change in County Population by Generations," shows a 2.3 percent gain in Bernalillo County's millennial population over the past five years.

Nice try, Gary.

GOP HERESY

Will the Republican Mayor of Rio Rancho be kicked out of the GOP for this heresy:?

Mayor Gregg Hull painted a picture--pay for roads now or pay for them later. . . The city wanted to reconstruct High Resort Boulevard, and the price tag was $5 million. Now, just four years later, the cost has gone up to $6.5 million.  "These roads aren't getting better and they're not getting cheaper. We need to protect our business locations and property values by investing in infrastructure," he said. The city will ask Rio Rancho residents to approve a property tax increase (for roads( during its March 1 election. 

For decades denizens of Rio Rancho have been notably parsimonious when it comes to paying for government operations, but now it has joined the ranks of aging cities and Mayor Hull sees it close up. His position is neither conservative or liberal but common sense.

Thanks for stopping by this week.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2016