Austin Sees Improvement in Unemployment Rate

Posted by Crystal Olenbush on Monday, April 5th, 2010 at 6:45pm.

One of the biggest draws to living in the Austin area is the fact that employment opportunities are quite abundant when compared to many other metropolitan areas throughout the country. While there is no doubt that Austin unemployment rates did take a bit of a hit during these difficult economic times, the city has managed to do quite well when compared to national averages and even when compared to the rest of the state. Furthermore, according to some data recently released by the Texas Workforce Commission, unemployment rates in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos area are only getting better.

According to the Texas Workforce Commission, unemployment rates in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos area jumped from 7% in December to 7.6% in January. Things got better in February, however, when rates fell back down to 7.2%. Although this is still higher than the 6.6% unemployment rate that the area experienced in February of 2009, Austin residents are certainly happy to see things moving back in the right direction.

Things aren't quite as chipper throughout the state, however, as the statewide unemployment rate has remained stable at 8.2%. Despite the fact that the statewide workforce added 40,200 jobs, the non-agriculture industries lost 13,000 jobs in February while gaining 12,600 in January. Of course, this rate is still far better than the national unemployment rate, which hit 9.7% in February.

"While it is encouraging to see job gains in February across several major employment sectors, our job market remains tight for those seeking new opportunities in the Lone Star State," said Ronny Congleton, who is the Workforce Commissioner Representing Labor, in an Austin Business Journals article.

When looking specifically at the Austin area, transportation, trade and utilities lost the most jobs within the non-agriculture jobs sector when comparing February 2009 to February 2010. In all, this sector lost 4,000 jobs. The manufacturing sector lost the second greatest number of jobs, with a total of 2,900 jobs lost in that same time period. The leisure and hospitality sector, on the other hand, enjoyed the greatest amount of growth after adding 5,000 positions during this same time frame.

When comparing employment figures on a month-to-month basis, the trade and transportation sector lost the greatest number of jobs from January to February with a total loss of about 800 positions. The government, on the other hand, added the most jobs with 3,300 jobs added from January to February. Adding 2,200 positions, the education, health, leisure and hospitality sectors added the second greatest number of positions.

1 Response to "Austin Sees Improvement in Unemployment Rate"

Austin Sees Improvement in Unemployment Rate « AustinsRealtor.com Blog wrote: [...]in Unemployment Rate

Posted by Jim Olenbush on Monday, April 5th, 2010 at 6:45pm.111 Views
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One of the biggest draws to living in the Austin area is the fact that employment opportunities are[...]

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