AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Texas' unemployment rate has dropped for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic hit, officials announced Friday.
The Texas Workforce Commission says May's unemployment rate for the state fell to 13 percent, down from a revised April peak of 13.5 percent. Texas is slightly below the national rate of 13.3 percent.
Employers added 291,000 private sector positions in May, a 3 percent increase from April. Among the sectors that saw the biggest rebounds include the leisure and hsopitality industries (adding 176,400 jobs, up 21.1 percent), education and health services (adding 51,900 positions, up 3.3 percent), and the trade, transportation, and utilities sectors (adding 20,700 positions, up 0.9 percent), officials said.
The Amarillo metro area saw the state's lowest unemployment rate, at 8.5 percent, followed closely by Bryan-College Station at 8.6 percent and Abilene at 8.9 percent. Dallas-Fort Worth recorded an unemployment rate of 12.3 percent, with Houston at 13.9 percent, San Antonio at 12.7 percent, and Austin at 11.4 percent.
Midland, Odessa, and Laredo continued to see job losses, with the unemployment rate rising since April. Midland rose from 10.1 percent in April to 12.4 percent in May, while Odessa jumped to 16.5 percent from 13.7 percent and Laredo jumped to 14.2 percent from 13.4 percent. San Angelo remained flat at 10.6 percent, while Longview held steady at 12.2 percent.