Reliably Austin
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Austin Jobless Rate Dips to 5.1 Percent

flickr.com/jimnix

Austin’s economy added 30,500 jobs over the last year. Thelatest employment report shows the jobless rate dropped to 5.1 percent last month from 5.6 percent in April 2012. 

The recent job growth happened as more people were moving to the Austin-area looking for work. The civilian labor force grew by more than 27,000 in the past 12 months.

The fastest growing job sector was construction, the result of a boom in new home building driven by growing demand and increasingly scarce supplies of houses and apartments

The jobs report is produced with U.S. Census Data and distributed by the Texas Workforce Commission. It covers Austin’s entire metropolitan area from Round Rock to San Marcos.

Statewide, the unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.4 percent. But Texas employers added 326,100 jobs in the past year, and the civilian labor force grew to an all-time high of more than 12.7 million workers. 

Nathan Bernier is the transportation reporter at KUT. He covers the big projects that are reshaping how we get around Austin, like the I-35 overhaul, the airport's rapid growth and the multibillion dollar transit expansion Project Connect. He also focuses on the daily changes that affect how we walk, bike and drive around the city. Got a tip? Email him at nbernier@kut.org. Follow him on Twitter @KUTnathan.
Related Content