Texas Border Cities Achieve Close to 1.65% Decrease in July Unemployment Rate

TEXAS – During the month of July 2022, border cities such as El Paso, Brownsville, Laredo and McAllen recorded a slight decrease of up to 1.65 percentage points in their annualized unemployment rate, according to data from the Texas Labor Commission (TWC).

In July of this year, Texas’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate again reached its lowest reading since February 2020, standing at 4.0 percent, a 0.1 percentage point decrease from June 2022.

Texas added 72,800 total nonfarm jobs in July 2022. For the ninth consecutive month, the state set new highs in jobs, as total nonfarm employment reached 13 million 513 thousand 100, adding a total of 736 thousand 700 jobs since July 2021.

“Since January of this year, Texas has added 406,800 jobs, the most growth we’ve recorded during that time period in any year,” said TWC President Bryan Daniel.

Education and Health Services gained 14,300 jobs during the month. Professional and Business Services added 12,700 jobs, followed by Trade, Transportation and Utilities, which grew by 12,500 jobs.

The Amarillo and Austin-Round Rock metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) posted the lowest July unemployment rates among Texas MSAs, with a non-seasonally adjusted rate of 3.1 percent each, followed by College Station-Bryan and Midland, both at 3.5 percent, and then Abilene and San Angelo, each at 3.6 percent.

El Paso, recorded a non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate this past July of 4.8, contrasting with the 6.3 achieved in the same month of 2021. Brownsville had a rate of 6.8, down from 8.4 a year earlier.

Laredo registered in July 2022 an unemployment rate of 4.5, in contrast to the 6.4 obtained in the same period of 2021; while McAllen, reached 8.0 at the end of the seventh month of the year, below the 9.6 it registered last year.

According to the figures presented, El Paso closed July 2022 with a total of 17,300 unemployed people, while 346,200 citizens were working. In Brownsville, 11,900 people ended July without work, while 163,700 were employed.

For its part, the city of Laredo reported 5,300 unemployed against 112,400 workers in July 2022; while McAllen counted 29,400 citizens looking for work, contrasting with the 339,800 who were employed at the end of said period.