Hays County and the state of Texas as a whole shared the dubious distinction of a 12.8 percent unemployment rate for April. The Austin-Round Rock Metropolitan Statistical Area fared a bit better at 12.2 percent; however
the jobless rate for the city of Kyle hit 13.3 last month.
That’s a jump from 3.9 percent in March and 2.3 percent in April 2019 for the county. For the state, the March unemployment rate was 5.1 percent and April 2019 was 2.9 percent. Kyle had an unemployment rate of 3.8 percent in March of this year and 2.3 percent in April 2019.
In adjusted figures, that means that 1,656,638 Texans, including 14,102 Hays County residents and 3,139 who call Kyle home are out of a job.
Unemployment claims, however, have leveled off. After a high of 2,475 claims filed the week ending April 4, that figure fell to 1,928 the week ending April 11, 1,613 the week ending April 18, 1,127 the week ending April 25, 1,207 the week ending May 2 and 887 the week ending May 9.
According to the Texas Workforce Commission the top five most affected occupations in Hays County are full-service restaurants, family clothing stores, limited-service restaurants, offices of physicians (except mental
health) and hotels/motels.
The TWC says Hays comes in at 23 on the list of the top 25 counties heavily affected by unemployment due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
