AUSTIN – Texas added 34,400 nonagricultural jobs in May, marking gains in 12 of the last 13 months, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. That’s a 0.3 percent monthly gain.
Since May 2020, the Texas economy has added a total of 804,200 jobs. To return to pre-pandemic levels, the economy needs to add 409,000 positions.
May’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.5 percent, down 0.2 percent from May 2021 and higher than the nation’s rate of 5.8 percent.
“Anecdotal evidence from service sector businesses points toward the lack of available applicants and generous unemployment benefits as major impediments in rehiring workers,” said Dr. Luis Torres, research economist at the Texas Real Estate Research Center.
To eliminate the incentive of remaining unemployed, Texas will opt out of further federal unemployment compensation related to the COVID-19 pandemic effective June 26, 2021. The measure would reduce minimum unemployment payments from $19,240 a year to $3,640 a year.
Amarillo had the lowest nonseasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the state at 3.9 percent. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission had the highest at 9.7 percent.
All employment sectors had seasonally adjusted job gains since May 2020 except mining and logging, which saw employment fall 1.2 percent. The leisure and hospitality sector’s employment jumped 26.4 percent over the year.
The Texas Real Estate Research Center has a wealth of economic information online for free.