COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – Texas continues to create jobs at a pace higher than the nation. The state’s economy gained 297,900 nonagricultural jobs from May 2012 to May 2013, an annual growth rate of 2.7 percent compared with 1.6 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 279,000 jobs, an annual growth rate of 3.1 percent compared with 2 percent for the nation’s private sector.
Texas’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 6.5 percent last month from 7 percent a year ago. The nation’s rate decreased from 8.2 to 7.6 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 the mining and logging industry, leisure and hospitality services industry, and professional and business services industry.
All Texas metro areas except Wichita Falls, Texarkana and Beaumont-Port Arthur had more jobs. Midland ranked first in job creation, followed by Odessa, Fort Worth-Arlington, Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos and Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown.
The state’s actual unemployment rate last month was 6.5 percent. Midland had the lowest unemployment rate followed by Odessa, Amarillo, Abilene, Lubbock, San Angelo and Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos.
Source: RECON