The number of jobs in Austin (Click here) continued to steadily increase during May.
That month, the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos area’s unemployment rate decreased from 7 percent to 6.9 percent, following a decrease from 7.1 percent during April. The latest decrease keeps the area’s rate below the national average at the time of 9.7 percent.
The Austin area had a total non-farm employment of 767,700 workers during May, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is up from 765,700 workers during April and a .5 percent increase from last year.
The leisure and hospitality industry grew the most over the month, adding 2,600 jobs between April and May, for a total of 91,600 workers.
Five other industries managed to see a monthly increase in employment during May, including: financial activities by 600 jobs; manufacturing by 300 jobs; trade, transportation and utilities by 300 jobs; education and health services by 300 jobs; and other services by 200 jobs.
Four industries lost workers over the month, with the government industry seeing the biggest drop of 1,100 workers. The professional and business services industry lost 800 jobs, while the mining, logging and construction industry lost 200 workers, and the information industry declined by 100 jobs.
Five industries experienced employment gains over the year during April. The leisure and hospitality industry once again grew the most, as its workforce increased by 8.9 percent between May 2009 and May 2010.
The education and health services industry increased by 2.6 percent to 86,100 workers, while the other services industry grew by 2.1 percent to 34,000 workers, the financial activities industry increased by 1.6 percent to 44,500 workers, and the government industry grew by .6 percent to 171,000 workers.
The information industry took the biggest hit when compared to last year, losing 5 percent of its workforce during the 12-month period, for a current employment total of 18,900 jobs.
Other industries that saw an over-the-year employment decline include: mining, logging and construction by 4.9 percent; manufacturing by 4.7 percent; professional and business services by 2 percent; and trade, transportation and utilities by .5 percent.
Tags: Jobs in Austin