AUSTIN, Texas — The unemployment rate in the Austin area fell below the 3% mark in the last month of 2021, according to data from the Texas Workforce Commission.
The rate dropped to 2.9% in December 2021, representing nearly 38,700 unemployed residents. It remains lower than the Texas and U.S. unemployment rates, which sit at 4.4% and 3.7% respectively.
According to the report, the area added 2,700 jobs from November to December 2021. Overall, the region experienced an annual growth rate of 7.3%, representing 80,600 jobs created since December 2020.
Workforce Solutions Capital Area found that the region has been one of the "most resilient" economies in the country during the pandemic.
“Although the omicron variant clouds the recovery’s path and the labor market remains tight, Austin is nearing pre-pandemic unemployment levels, and job growth is booming,” Tamara Atkinson, CEO at Workforce Solutions Capital Area, said in a release.
Industries like manufacturing and transportation/utilities experienced the most significant increase from November to December. From one month to the next, leisure and hospitality and business services lost jobs to end 2021, but leisure and hospitality experienced the greatest regional job growth over the last 12 months, according to Workforce Solution Capital Area. Professional and business services and financial activities also saw an increase.
Workforce Solutions said its data shows inequities in the workforce have been exacerbated by the pandemic. WSCA reported that nearly 70% of unemployment benefit claimants in Travis County since March 2020 have less than an associates degree, and that the claimants are disproportionately people of color.
“While high-skill workers in our region’s most in-demand sectors have enjoyed a wealth of job opportunities and financial gains, even amid COVID, these advantages have not been experienced by everyone in our community, particularly those with less education and people of color,” said Atkinson.
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