Texas leads nation in job growth, Austin's unemployment rate increases
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Governor Greg Abbott recently announced that Texas led the nation for job growth in June; however, Austin’s unemployment rate increased.
In a statement Friday, Abbott said employers added 82,500 jobs over the previous month, and Texas set a new employment record for the eighth consecutive month with 13,431,100 total jobs and 778,700 added jobs since June 2021.
The unemployment data for Austin released by the Texas Workforce Commission was not seasonally adjusted, the agency said.
TWC data showed the Austin unemployment rate increased to 3.1% in June 2022, which was up from May, but the Austin-metro unemployment rate remained below Texas’ 4.4% and the national rate of 3.8%.
“As high school and college students occupy some available jobs for seasonal summer employment, there is typically a slight uptick in unemployment rates in June,” a representative for the Capital Area Workforce Solutions said. “This is also the time where there is a rise in unemployment in the education sector due to the end of the school year.”
The 3.1% increase was represented by 42,236 unemployed residents, a report said.
According to TWC, the Austin area gained 13,000 jobs from May to June, and the region experienced an annual growth rate of 6.4%.
The industries that experienced the most regional job growth from May to June were leisure and hospitality, professional and business services and trade, transportation and utilities.
Government, education and health services sectors experienced the most regional job losses from May to June.