Monthly Update: Houston Metro Employment
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Metro Houston created 11,700 jobs in September, according to data released today by the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC). At first glance, that would appear to be a healthy gain. However, most of the growth occurred in the public sector, primarily at schools, community colleges, and state-funded universities. Only two industries in the private sector, construction and private schools, logged any significant job gains. Several sectors reported job losses for September.
The employment shifts in “Other Services” and “Restaurants and Bars” shouldn’t be a cause for alarm. For some time now, the Partnership has suspected that TWC has been overestimating job growth in these sectors. September’s losses in these sectors may simply reflect TWC efforts to correct prior errors.
However, the tepid growth in the remaining sectors reflects the slowing seen in other economic indicators, like the Purchasing Managers Index, home sales, and sales tax collections. Houston is likely facing slower overall growth through the remainder of the year.
POST PANDEMIC UPDATE
The metro area lost nearly 360,000 jobs during the first two months of the pandemic (March-April ’20). Since the economy reopened in May of that year, the region has created over 626,000 jobs, recouping 174.3 percent of its losses. Houston now has 266,900 more jobs than it did prior to the pandemic.
Prepared by Greater Houston Partnership Research
Patrick Jankowski, CERP
Chief Economist
Senior Vice President, Research
pjankowski@houston.org
Clara Richardson
Research Analyst
crichardson@houston.org
