HARLINGEN — The seasonally-adjusted Texas jobless rate dropped in June from 4.2 percent to 4.1 percent as the state set new employment highs for the eighth consecutive month.
The number of Texans working reached 13.4 million, adding nearly a half-million of those jobs since February 2020.
In the Rio Grande Valley, however, the trend for June was again downward after several months of positive employment numbers.
The Brownsville-Harlingen Metropolitan Statistical Area saw its unemployment rate rise from 6.0 percent to 6.9 percent from May to June. A year ago, the rate was 9.1 percent.
The McAllen-Edinburg-Mission MSA also recorded a rise in the jobless rate in June, going from 6.9 percent the previous month to 8.0 percent, the highest unemployment rate in the state.
The Beaumont-Port Arthur MSA is sandwiched between the two Valley areas at 7.3 percent, up from 6.5 percent.
The Austin-Round Rock MSA recorded June’s lowest unemployment rate among Texas MSAs at 3.1 percent, followed by Amarillo at 3.2 percent, then College Station-Bryan and Midland, both at 3.6 percent.
The biggest categories for job gains in June were Education and Health Services, which gained 27,900 jobs over the month, and Leisure and Hospitality, which added 12,700 positions.
The national jobless rate for June was 3.8 percent, up from 3.4 percent in May. A year ago it was 6.1 percent.
