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The Texas jobless rate dropped slightly in April in tandem with the unemployment figures in the Rio Grande Valley.
Texas added 62,800 total non-agricultural jobs in April, marking the sixth consecutive month the state set new employment highs as total nonfarm jobs reached 13,284,500.
Texas has added a total of 742,000 positions since April 2021. In April, the seasonally adjusted Texas unemployment rate was 4.3 percent, a decrease of 0.1 percentage points from March.
The Valley has experienced persistent high jobless numbers for the past two years, but there are signs local economies are improving.
The McAllen-Edinburg-Mission Metropolitan Statistical Area has endured the highest jobless rate in the state for over a year. While still in the bottom spot statewide, the MSA has shown improvement in the past three months, and April continued the trend.
The April jobless rate for the area was 6.8 percent, down from 7.0 percent in March and far better than the 9.7 percent from a year ago.
The Brownsville-Harlingen MSA also showed improvement, dropping to 5.9 percent for April after posting a 6.1 percent rate in March. Last year, the unemployment rate was 8.4 percent.
The Beaumont-Port Arthur has been sandwiched between the two Valley MSA’s when it comes to high jobless rates, and in April was 6.3 percent, down from 6.6 percent.
In April, Leisure and Hospitality gained 13,500 jobs over the month. Education and Health Services added 8,800 positions, followed by Financial Activities employment which grew by 8,700 jobs. Also of note, Mining and Logging added 6,600 jobs, a 3.2 percent increase from March.
The lowest jobless rates in the state were found in the Amarillo and Austin-Round Rock MSAs at 2.5 percent. Lubbock had a jobless rate of 2.8 percent.
