A slight decrease in the unemployment rate reported in Laredo and South Texas
Melva Castillo
January 21, 2022
LAREDO, TEXAS — The Laredo MSA saw a decrease in the seasonally adjusted rate dropping to 4.8 percent in December. That represents a decrease of 0.2 percent from the 5.0 percent reported in November, according to figures released Friday, January 21, by the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC).
The three-county Workforce Solutions for South Texas (WSST) area of Jim Hogg, Webb, and Zapata counties reported a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 5.0 percent in December which represents a decrease of 0.3 percent in comparison to November that was at 5.3 percent.
“We anticipated that the unemployment rate would continue to decrease in December. We have always seen slight increases in number of people working from November to December as employers bring on additional labor force to help with the demand increase during the holiday season,” Rogelio Trevino, Executive Director at WSST, said.
The 5.0 percent unemployment rate in the South Texas area represented 6,173 residents seeking employment in December. The total reported Civilian Labor Force was at 123,486, meaning that 117,313 people are employed.
The State of Texas reported a 4.3 percent unemployment rate, while the national unemployment rate was reported at 3.7 percent, according to the report by TWC.
Essential Jobs reported an increase in employment by industry, such as the Leisure and Hospitality (9.6%), Other Services (4.4%), Information (3.8%), Natural Resources and Mining and Education & Health Care (2.1%), Trade, Transportation and Utilities (31.0%), Manufacturing (0.9%), and Public Administration (0.2%).
Industries reporting losses were the following: Construction, Financial Activities, and Professional and Business Services.
“It is promising to see the increases in jobs in the essential jobs and service industry jobs. These were the industries that were most affected by the pandemic and it is expected that the job openings in those industries will slowly begin to fill again,” Trevino said. “Workforce Solutions for South Texas stands ready to assist job seekers and employers connect to fill the vacancies that currently exist.”
Activities
For those looking for a job, we invite them to the “We Need Your Talent” Virtual Job Fair. This event will take place on Wednesday, January 26, from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm at https://bit.ly/virtual0126. If anyone needs assistance with their resume or register, give us a call at 956-794-6500.
For parents working in the service industry and need child care assistance, we invite you to apply to receive 12 months of paid child care scholarship. Parents need to be working in the Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, Accommodation, Food Services, and Retail Trade industries. To learn more visit www.southtexasworkforce.org. To apply today, visit bit.ly/applysir.
Employment estimates released by TWC are produced in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. All estimates are subject to revision. To access this and more employment data, visit texaslmi.com.
