The city of Kyle’s unemployment rate fell in August for the first time in several months, bucking state and national trends. The percentage of jobless people in Hays County and the Austin area also declined.
STAFF REPORT
Kyle added 116 jobs last month, and the city’s unemployment rate fell for the first time since March.
The city’s jobless rate stood at 6 percent in August, down from 6.3 percent in July. That rate was still higher than the 5.7 percent rate posted in August 2010.
Hays County and the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro area also saw their unemployment rates improve in August, even as jobless claims worsened to 8.5 percent statewide.
“Texas continues to feel the pressure of a stagnant national economy,” Texas Workforce Commission Chairman Tom Pauken said in a news release.
Texas’ gains in the private sector were offset by government losses of 9,400 jobs in August, including 11,500 jobs lost in local government, he added. The number of private sector jobs grew by 272,000 in August, driven by gains in the education and health services fields.
Hays County’s jobless rate was 7.5 percent in August, down from 7.7 percent in July but up from 7.2 percent in August a year ago. In the Austin metro area, meanwhile, the jobless rate was 7.3 percent in August, compared to 7.6 percent in July and 7.2 percent in August 2010.
Kyle’s labor force grew by 89 in August, to 13,470 people, while the number of people who were unemployed and looking for work fell by 27 to 813.
