The Seven Letter Word

The economy. Unemployment rates are staggering. It's not the best time to move to a new city and find a new job, but here's how Texas stacks up in joblessness.

As of August 2008:

Missouri: 6.6%
Illinois: 7.3%
Texas: 5%

Highest?
Michigan: 8.9%

Lowest?
South Dakota: 3.3%

It's probably better that I'm not living in Missouri or Illinois anymore looking for a job. Texas (and Austin especially) is doing better than the country.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Austin Business Journal

Austin’s unemployment rate continued climbing in August as the area struggles with the softening economy.

Unemployment hit 4.5 percent in August, up from 4.4 percent in July, according to the latest figures from the Texas Workforce Commission. A year ago, the unemployment rate was 3.7 percent.

Despite the uptick, Austin is faring better than the rest of Texas and the country. The unemployment rate in Texas stood at 5.1 percent in August, while the U.S. rate hit 6.1 percent.

The number of jobs in the region stood at 776,900 in August, a 2.4 percent increase over August 2007. The government sector led the year-over-year increase with 7,800 positions, followed by leisure and hospitality with 3,100 new positions. The biggest decline was in the manufacturing sector, which lost 2,800 jobs in the last 12 months.

Total nonfarm employment in Texas grew by 6,700 positions in August to 10.6 million jobs.

It's still hard. I'm finding positions I'm interested in everyday, but I imagine myself and 4.5% of the population here all sitting in front of computers and applying for the exact same job and I start to think it's hopeless. I won't reveal too much about my search in case prospective employers are looking at my blog (Hi! I could be working this hard for you!).