COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – All Texas industries and the state’s government sector had more jobs in February 2013 than in February 2012.
According to the Real Estate Center’s latest Monthly Review of the Texas Economy, the state’s construction industry ranked first in job creation, followed by mining and logging, leisure and hospitality, other services, professional and business services and trade.
The state’s economy was robust, gaining 355,600 nonagricultural jobs from February 2012 to February 2013, an annual growth rate of 3.3 percent compared with 1.5 percent for the United States. The state’s private sector added 336,800 jobs, an annual growth rate of 3.8 percent compared with 1.9 percent for the nation.
All Texas metro areas except Texarkana had more jobs. Odessa and Midland ranked first in job creation followed by Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Fort Worth-Arlington and Corpus Christi.
Texas’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 6.4 percent in February from 7.1 percent the year before. The nation’s rate decreased from 8.3 to 7.7 percent.
The state’s actual unemployment rate was 6.5 percent. Midland had the lowest unemployment rate, followed by Odessa, Amarillo, Abilene, San Angelo and Lubbock.
According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, only 14 of the nation’s 100 largest metros have more jobs now than they did before the recession, and six of them are in Texas. They are Austin, San Antonio, El Paso, McAllen, Dallas and Houston.
