Texas added nearly 21,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate fell, the Texas Workforce Commission reported Friday.
The state has added jobs in 19 of the past 20 months, the Workforce Commission said. The state unemployment rate slipped from 4.7 percent in October to 4.6 percent, matching the national average of 4.6 percent.
The Houston metro area added 16,100 jobs over the year, a 0.5 percent annual growth rate. That’s slightly higher than October’s pace of 0.4 percent.
“This is one more brick in the wall of keeping us from having negative year-over-year job growth at any point throughout this downturn,” said Parker Harvey, regional economist with Gulf Coast Workforce Solutions.
The unemployment rate is Houston, which is not adjusted for seasonal variations, was 4.9 percent in November, up from 4.8 percent a year ago.
The job growth comes as the energy industry begins to recover after a two-year downturn. Mining and logging, the sector that includes oil and gas extraction and services, added 3,200 jobs across that state last month, the Workforce Commission reported. Still, the sector has lost more than 29,000 jobs over the past year.
In Houston, oil and gas employment continued to show signs of improvement. The mining and logging sector posted a year-over-year loss of 7,900 jobs last month, compared to losses of 8,400 jobs in October and 10,200 in September.
Statewide job gains last month were led by leisure and hospitality, which includes restaurants and hotels. The sector added 5,700 jobs last month. Employment in education and health services, which includes universities and hospitals, increased by 4,700 jobs in November. Construction gained 2,500.
The same trend appeared in Houston. Leisure and hospitality added 16,700 over the past year, a 5.4 percent increase. And employment in educational and health services added 14,500 jobs from November 2015, a 3.9 percent increase.
Trade, transportation and utilities, which includes retail, gained 10,500 jobs over the past year, a 1.7 percent increase.
This story first appeared on the Houston Chronicle – an Energy Voice content partner. Read more here.
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