Texas Rising July/August 2008

Texas Job Growth Takes Off

McAllen’s unemployment rate dipped to 3.9 percent in April, the lowest the Texas Workforce Commission has recorded for it in decades.* Despite a slowing national economy, Texas led the nation in job growth in June 2008, posting the highest year-over-year increase in employment among the leading top job-growth states. Houston topped a list of the best cities in the nation to work, live and play, according to July 2008 rankings from Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine.


 Low Unemployment Rates

CityUnemployment Rate
May 2008		Unemployment Rate
June 2008
San Antonio
3.9%
4.5%
Corpus Christi
4.1%
4.6%
Houston
4.2%
4.7%
McAllen
4.3%
4.8%
Fort Worth
4.6%
5.1%

*Not seasonally adjusted. The numbers are different from the Metropolitan Statistical Areas’ (MSA) unemployment numbers usually grouped by the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) on a monthly basis and released publicly. TWC also keeps employment numbers broken down by city. The McAllen-Edinburg-Mission MSA unemployment rate was 5.7 percent for April 2008 and 6.1 percent for May 2008.

Sources: McAllen Economic Development Corp., Texas Workforce Commission.

 Annual Employment Change by State

StateJobs Added
June 2007 – June 2008†
Texas
245,000
Washington
 
35,500
Colorado
 
32,200
Wyoming
 
7,800

†Seasonally adjusted.


Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

 Best Cities to Work and Play

City

  1. Houston, Texas
  2. Raleigh, North Carolina
  3. Omaha, Nebraska
  4. Boise, Idaho
  5. Colorado Springs, Colorado
  6. Austin, Texas
  7. Fayetteville, Arkansas
  8. Sacramento, California

Source: Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine, July 2008.


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