As the state’s unemployment rate increased and jobs were lost on a monthly and yearly basis during December 2009, Texas construction jobs saw the biggest decline when compared to the previous year.
During December 2009, Texas’s unemployment rate increased from 8 percent to 8.3 percent, following a decrease from 8.3 percent during November. Despite the increase, the state’s unemployment rate is still lower than the national rate of 10 percent.
Texas had a total non-farm employment of 10,355,300 workers during December, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is down from 10,379,200 workers during November and a 2.6 percent decrease from December 2008.
Only two industries saw a monthly increase in employment, including mining and logging by 300 jobs and education and health services by 4,800 jobs. Employment in the information industry remained steady at 200,200 workers.
Three industries managed to add jobs on a yearly basis, including education and health services, which saw a 4.6 percent increase to 1,377,800 workers; other services, which saw a 1.7 percent increase to 365,500 workers; and government, which saw a 4.6 percent increase to 1,867,900 workers.
Not surprisingly, the construction industry took the biggest hit when compared to the previous year. The industry employed 555,800 workers during December, down from 560,200 workers during November and a 15.2 percent decrease from December 2008.
Other industries that saw an over-the-year decrease in employment include:
mining and logging by 12.6 percent
manufacturing by 9.9 percent
trade, transportation and utilities by 5.1 percent
information by 6.7 percent
financial activities by .3 percent
professional and business services by 4.9 percent
leisure and hospitality by 1.4 percent
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