COLLEGE STATION – In the week ending April 25, around 278,800 initial unemployment insurance claims were filed in Texas. That brings the total since March 21 to over 1.59 million, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).
New claims have decreased since the week prior, when over 298,000 initial claims were filed.
The Real Estate Center estimates the unemployment rate across the state will rise to 15 percent.
Using data from the DOL and the Employment and Training Administration, the Real Estate Center estimates that from March 21 to April 18, nearly 321,200 seasonally adjusted claims were filed in Dallas-Fort Worth. That is the highest of Texas’ major metros.
In Houston, San Antonio, and Austin, an estimated 300,750, 101,600, and 37,900 claims were filed during that time, respectively.
The Center estimates the unemployment rate in Houston and Austin could be 12.8 percent and 6.2 percent, respectively. Unemployment could hit an estimated 11.3 percent in both DFW and San Antonio.
Retail trade was the industry with the most unemployment claims.
“The composition of the unemployment claims by industry have changed given that the majority of the claims were concentrated on the accommodation and food services industry at the start of the ‘Great Lockdown,'” said Center Research Economist Dr. Luis Torres.
The Center estimates the U.S. employment rate could be 21 percent.
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