COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – Texas once again created more jobs than the nation, gaining 302,300 nonagricultural jobs from July 2012 to July 2013, an annual growth rate of 2.8 percent. By comparison, the nation’s job growth rate was 1.7 percent.
According to the Real Estate Center’s latest Monthly Review of the Texas Economy, the state’s nongovernment sector added 289,200 jobs, an annual growth rate of 3.2 percent compared with 2.1 percent for the nation’s private sector.
Texas’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 6.5 percent in July 2013 from 6.9 percent in July 2012. The nation’s rate decreased from 8.2 to 7.4 percent.
All Texas industries except the transportation, warehousing and utilities industry had more jobs. The state’s construction industry ranked first in job creation, followed by mining and logging, leisure and hospitality services, and professional and business services.
All Texas metro areas except Wichita Falls had more jobs. Midland ranked first in job creation, followed by Odessa, Fort Worth-Arlington, Corpus Christi, Dallas-Plano-Irving, Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown and Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos.
The state’s actual unemployment rate in July 2013 was 6.7 percent. Midland had the lowest unemployment rate followed by Odessa, Amarillo, Abilene and Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos.
