Houston, Texas Adds 99,100 Jobs by
January 2007

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Great news, job hunters! The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) disclosed that the Houston metropolitan area in Texas created 99,100 new jobs from January 2006 to January 2007.

Certain well-compensated industries operating in Houston displayed economic vigor, based on this data from the BLS. For example, over-the-year growth of Oil and Gas Extraction stood at 7.1% while that of Oil and Gas (support activities) rose to 12.1%. Durable Goods Manufacturing posted 5.9% in over-the-year growth, Architectural and Engineering Services hiked its numbers to the 11.1% mark, and Computer Systems Design and Related Services jacked its performance to a respectable 7.2%. On the other hand, Aggregate Goods Producing Sectors improved by 5.8% as Service Providing Sectors grew by 3.8%

Greater Houston Partnership president and CEO Jeff Moseley revealed that their Strategic Plan focuses on trying to secure more jobs for their territory. Moseley interpreted the BLS data as displaying a significant growth curve for Houston, TX, which surpasses the performance of other areas in the United States based on jobs gained. Moseley noted that his Board aims to help develop 600,000 new jobs by 2015, with capital investment increasing by then to the $60-billion mark.

The seasonally-adjusted employment rate for Texas dropped to 4.5% in January 2007 from the 5.2%-level of January 2006. In the 12 months ending January 2007, employers added 243,700 new jobs to the state labor force (indicating a growth rate of 2.5% which is significantly better than the economic performance of the entire USA.)

Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) Chair Diane Rath noted that the decrease in Texas’ unemployment rate is symptomatic of the robust economic climate of the state, especially when considered in the light of year-over-year sustained job gains. In fact, according to TWC Commissioner Representing Employers Ron Lehman, the addition of jobs throughout Texas was made possible by activity within 10 key industries, such as Manufacturing and Construction. Mining, in particular, has kept increasing the number of its labor force on a monthly basis starting November 2003 – with a 12.7% annual growth rate displayed after it increased its labor force in January 2007 by 1,800 jobs. Financial Activities also performed well, hiring a total of 12,800 workers from January 2006. This helped boost the labor force numbers to a record high of 11,063,400 workers employed in the state, stated TWC Commissioner Representing Labor Ronny Congleton.

Unemployment compensation fell by 2.6% from January 2006 to 59,196 initial claims in January 2007.

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Article Custom Written/compiled for Job Service Help by Mabelle Sese of The Filipino Worker Company. Updated June, 18, 2007