Jobs
Texas Job Growth Remains, but Quality Versus Quantity at Issue
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If you just read the headline data from the Texas Workforce Commission on January’s job trends, you would think it’s still great news. The Texas economy added some 31,400 jobs in January on a monthly reading. And on a year-over-year basis, the Texas non-agricultural economy added some 187,400 jobs, versus January of 2015. Another boost was that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 4.5% in January from 4.6% in December.
It sounds great on the surface when you hear that Texas experienced job growth for the tenth consecutive month. Unfortunately, there is more to this story. The quality and pay of these jobs is at issue. The energy sector is losing many high-paying jobs. The manufacturing sector, which also largely caters to the energy and infrastructure industries, also lost many jobs. And with this a report for January, it does not even take into consideration the layoffs that were confirmed in February.
What happens when you consider that Texas employers added 187,400 jobs over the past year is that it may highlight a changing diversity of the Texas economy. That being said, the story is not all bad news. Taking a look at the quality of jobs is another issue.
The Education & Health Services industry added 11,500 jobs on a monthly basis and added 62,100 jobs from a year ago. Leisure and Hospitality employment added 7,300 jobs in January from December, and this was up by 68,400 jobs from January of 2015.
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