COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – The Texas economy gained 258,500 nonagricultural jobs from August 2012 to August 2013, an annual growth rate of 2.4 percent compared with 1.7 percent for the United States.
According to the Real Estate Center’s latest Monthly Review of the Texas Economy, the state’s nongovernment sector added 247,800 jobs, an annual growth rate of 2.7 percent compared with 2 percent for the nation’s private sector.
All Texas industries except the transportation, warehousing and utilities industry had more jobs in August 2013 than in August 2012. The state’s mining and logging industry ranked first in job creation, followed by construction, leisure and hospitality services, and professional and business services.
Texas’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 6.4 percent last month from 6.8 percent a year ago. The nation’s rate decreased from 8.1 to 7.3 percent.
All Texas metros except Texarkana had more jobs. Odessa ranked first in job creation, followed by Midland, Dallas-Plano-Irving, Fort Worth-Arlington and Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown.
The state’s actual unemployment rate last month was 6.3 percent. Midland had the lowest unemployment rate, followed by Odessa, Amarillo, Abilene, San Angelo and Lubbock.
