Texas adds jobs, Workforce Commission says recession signs fading

The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) released its July jobs report Friday morning, showing that the state added 26,300 jobs in the last month.

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) released its July jobs report Friday morning, showing that the state added 26,300 jobs in the last month.

This continues a 28-month growth trend that began around the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. Since last year, Texas added 441,700 jobs, leading TWC Chairman Bryan Daniel to claim Texas' supremacy in U.S. job growth.

“Texas leads the nation in sustainable job growth with more than 2.7 million positions added in the past decade,” Daniel said. “The Texas economy remains strong, and TWC will continue to provide support through tools and resources for job seekers and employers alike.”

In a press call Friday, TWC Executive Director Ed Serna and TWC's Labor Market Information Department manager Gabriel Guzman presented the agency's findings.

"There are good signs for the economy," Guzman said. "There was a lot of concern that the nation or the state would hit a recession. We're not seeing any of that at all in Texas. We still have a lot of job openings and layoffs continued to be relatively low."

Texas' unemployment rate remained stable at 4.1%. The national unemployment rate was at 3.5% in July 2023. However, Texans' participation in the labor force exceeded the U.S. average by 1.6 percentage points.

The sectors that saw the most growth in June include Leisure and Hospitality (9,800 jobs), Manufacturing (6,600), and Private Education and Health Services (6,400). The biggest job losses were seen in Professional and Business Services (-5,700), Information (-3,000), and Mining and Logging (-1,300).

All private sector jobs saw wage increases for 2022 that averaged $1.94, or 6.5%. Construction (10.1%), Manufacturing (12.1%), Finance (10.1%), and Leisure and Hospitality (8.9%) all exceeded that average rate.

"We continue to be pleased with the efforts of our employers, local partners and state agencies who provide services to the families, to job seekers and employers, to continue to grow the economy," Serna said. "We feel very confident that the outside factors we sometimes read about...in the national press don't affect us in the same ways. We look forward to continue to bring you good reports like this one."