A worker connects a drill bit on a rig outside Midland.Brittany Sowacke/BloombergMidland’s labor market heated up in November, recording sharp growth in job count, labor force and number of employed.The Texas Workforce Commission said Friday unemployment in its Midland metropolitan statistical area – which includes Midland and Martin counties – fell to 2.2% from 2.4% in October and is down from 2.6% last November. Midland continues to report the state’s lowest unemployment, followed by Amarillo at 2.6%, College-Station at 2.7% and Lubbock at 2.8%. Odessa reported 2.9%, down from 3.2% in October.Midland UnemploymentJanuary 2023 2.7%January 2022 3.9%
February 2023 3.0%February 2022 3.6%
March 2023 2.6%March 2022 3.1%
April 2023 2.3%April 2022 2.8%
May 2023 2.6%May 2022 2.8%
June 2023 2.6%June 2022 3.2%
July 2023 2.9%July 2022 2.9%
August 2023 2.8%August 2022 2.8%
September 2023 2.5%September 2022 2.6%
October 2023 2.4%October 2022 2.6%
November 2023 2.2%November 2022 2.6%
Preliminary numbers for November with October numbers in parentheses: Midland 2.2 (2.4)Amarillo 2.6 (2.9)College Station-Bryan 2.7 (3.0)Lubbock 2.8 (3.2)Abilene 2.9 (3.2)Odessa 2.9 (3.2)Austin-Round Rock 3.0 (3.3)San Angelo 3.0 (3.4)Waco 3.1 (3.5)San Antonio-New Braunfels 3.2 (3.6)Dallas-Plano-Irving 3.3 (3.6)Fort Worth-Arlington 3.3 (3.6)Sherman-Denison 3.3 (3.7)Tyler 3.3 (3.6)Wichita Falls 3.3 (3.7)Texarkana 3.4 (3.5)Laredo 3.5 (3.7)Victoria 3.5 (3.9)Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land 3.8 (4.1)Longview 3.8 (4.1)Corpus Christi 3.9 (4.2)Killeen-Temple 3.9 (4.3)El Paso 4.0 (4.4)Brownsville-Harlingen 4.7 (4.9)Beaumont-Port Arthur 5.1 (5.2)McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 5.3 (5.2)
Midland is contributing to the state’s record labor market. In a media briefing, Mariana Vega, director of the commission’s Labor Market Information Department, said Midland was the state’s fastest growing MSA with a 5.1% growth rate and also led employment growth with a 4.9% growth rate, surpassing the state’s large metropolitan areas like Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston.AdvertisementArticle continues below this adTexas’s labor market continues to lead the nation in employment growth, noted commission Chairman Bryan Daniel, and setting records for close to three years.“When we talk to employers, they say the business environment is good. The economics are good, logistics and transportation are good. I look at how the people that create jobs and the state government communicate about how things are working and how they can work better,” he said.He also attributed the state’s growth to optimism about working in Texas, rising wages and a cost of living that has not risen as high as in other parts of the country. Texas is also a relatively young state with a number of young Texans making their first entrance into the workforce.“Those areas that aren’t seeing this type of growth are rural areas and we’re looking at strategies for them,” Daniel said.AdvertisementArticle continues below this adMidland’s civilian labor force grew by over 1,400 jobs – to 116,785 from 115,345 in October and 111,119 in November 2022. The number of employed Midlanders grew by almost 2,000 to 114,265 from 112,582 in October and from 108,284 last November. The number of unemployed Midlanders fell by more than 240 to 2,520 from 2,763 in October and from 2,835 the previous November.Midland added 1,500 jobs from October to November for a total nonfarm job count of 122,900. Mining, Logging and Construction dominated with 800 new jobs, followed by Trade, Transportation and Utilities with 500 new jobs. The Other Services sector and the Government sector each added 100 jobs.For the 12 months from November 2022 to November 2023, Midland added 5,500 jobs for a growth rate of 4.7%. The Mining, Logging and Construction sector continued to be the dominant industrial sector, adding 3,000 new jobs over the year. The Government sector was next with 1,000 new jobs, followed by Trade, Transportation and Utilities with 800 additional jobs. The Private Education and Health Services sector and the Other Services sector each added 300 jobs. The Manufacturing sector and Financial Activities sector each added 100 jobs. Professional and Business Services was the only sector to lose jobs, dropping 100 jobs over the year.Statewide, the unemployment rate held at 4.1%. Texas added 26,800 jobs in November, bringing the seasonally adjusted job count to a record 14,094,900. Employment has set record highs each of the last 26 months and has added 407,100 jobs since November 2022, highest in the nation. The civilian labor force grew by 30,800 to reach a workforce of 15,192,900. This was the 11th consecutive monthly increase and included the addition of 39,700 Texans employed.AdvertisementArticle continues below this adWhile Midland posted the lowest unemployment statewide, the highest was in McAllen-Edinburg-Mission at 5.3%.
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