According to the Real Estate Center at College Station, Texas added 133,100 jobs to its economy from August 2009 to August 2010. This resulted in an annual growth rate of 1.3 percent. Though the United States also saw an increase in jobs over this same period, adding 278,000 jobs, it did not keep pace with Texas’ growth, posting only a 0.2 percent increase. Twenty-four Texas metro areas saw a positive employment growth rate from August 2009 to August 2010. This was up from only 19 metro areas for the July 2009 to July 2010 period.
The metro area of Sherman-Denison (an area just north of Dallas) led the state with a 3.6 percent growth rate. This was followed by San Angelo, the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos area, Odessa, Tyler, the Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood area, and College Station/Bryan which all saw a percent growth rate of at least 2.0 percent. Dallas ranked twelfth showing a 1.2 percent growth rate with the San Antonio-New Braunfels area posting only a 0.1 percent increase. The Houston area showed no growth.
Despite the increase in jobs, Texas’ unemployment rate still rose, posting a 0.3 percent gain over last August. The unemployment rate for the state rose from 8 percent in August 2009 to 8.3 percent in August 2010 while the country’s unemployment rate actually decreased from 9.7 to 9.6 percent for the same period of time.
Overall, employment rates are beginning to creep up, with Texas ahead of the nations’ curve as far as job production. Despite the data, many Americans are still unemployed, facing foreclosure and are struggling to manage in a continued weak economy. An unemployment rate over 8 percent still ushers in many desperate people without work or a true vision of employment in the near future. It will be many years before the country, including Texas, will be able to recover from these faintly optimistic yet rather gloomy employment numbers.
Are you interested in a new home? Take a look at SaveOnANewHome.com to find a great deal on a new home.
