Even though the number of
jobs in Houston that were lost during the last year has slowed, the city's unemployment rate continues to climb.
Workforce Solutions recently reported that employers in the
Houston area eliminated 76,700 jobs between September 2008 and September 2009. However, the area saw its unemployment rate increase from 8.4 percent to 8.5 percent during September.
The Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown area has not seen its unemployment rate decline since April, when it went from 6.6 percent to 6.3 percent. Since then, the unemployment rate has continually increased or remained flat, from 6.9 percent during May, to 8 percent during June and to 8.4 percent during July and August.
The area had a total non-farm employment of 2,516,700 workers during August, according to the U.S. Department of Labor
Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is down from 2,520,700 workers during July and a 3.6 percent decrease from last year.
About 24,720
workers filed for unemployment benefits for the first time during September, up from the 22,922 workers who filed initial claims during August. It also was found that the Houston area lost more jobs on a yearly basis than previously thought.
It was first reported that Houston lost 95,100 jobs, or 3.6 percent, from August 2008 to August of this year. However, that number has now been revised to a loss of 101,400 jobs, or 3.9 percent.
The State of Texas as a whole also has continued to lose jobs. Even though the state saw its unemployment rate increase from 8 percent to 8.2 percent during September, that number is still lower than the national unemployment rate of 9.8 percent.
Texas also has not seen its unemployment rate decrease since April, when it went from 6.7 percent to 6.6 percent. It has continually increased since then, to 7.1 percent during May, to 7.5 percent during June, to 7.9 percent during July and to 8 percent during August.
Labels: Jobs in Houston