(November 21, 2008)—Jobless rates in Central Texas cities were virtually unchanged in October, despite the struggling national economy.
The Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood area’s unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.4 percent in October, while Waco’s rate actually declined slightly from 4.8 percent to 4.7 percent.
Texas' unemployment rate increased to 5.6 percent in October, up half a percentage point from the previous month in part because of Hurricane Ike and national economic trends, the Texas Workforce Commission said Friday.
Texas still has an unemployment rate that’s nearly one percent lower than the national jobless rate, but workforce commission chairman Tom Pauken said he expects unemployment rates in Texas to continue to track the national trend upward in the months ahead.
The state had a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 5.1 percent in September and 4.3 percent in October 2007.
Nearly half of the increase in the number of unemployed reported statewide for October came in the Houston and Beaumont metropolitan areas, which were hit hard by Hurricane Ike.
“Texas is in a better position than most other states with continued positive job growth,” said TWC Commissioner Representing the Public Andres Alcantar. “However, we must remain diligent throughout our state, strategically connecting workers to job opportunities.”
Texas Unemployment Rates
(September rate in parenthesis, local figures not seasonally adjusted)
Abilene 4.2 (4.2)
Amarillo 3.9 (3.9)
Austin-Round Rock 4.8 (4.7)
Beaumont-Port Arthur 8.2 (7.1)
Brownsville-Harlingen 7.4 (7.5)
College Station-Bryan 4.2 (4.2)
Corpus Christi 5.2 (5.2)
Dallas-Plano-Irving 5.6 (5.4)
El Paso 6.7 (6.6)
Fort Worth-Arlington 5.2 (5.1)
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown 5.4 (5.1)
Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood 5.4 (5.4)
Laredo 5.6 (5.6)
Longview 4.5 (4.4)
Lubbock 3.9 (4.0)
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 7.7 (7.9)
Midland 3.1 (3.2)
Odessa 3.7 (3.8)
San Angelo 4.5 (4.4)
San Antonio 5.1 (5.0)
Sherman-Denison 5.4 (5.3)
Texarkana 4.7 (4.7)
Tyler 6.5 (5.0)
Victoria 4.4 (4.4)
Waco 4.7 (4.8)
Wichita Falls 5.3 (5.2)
Texas Workforce Commission Web Site
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