The end of the holiday shopping season led to weak January hiring, according to numbers just released by Gulf Coast Workforce Solutions. The Houston-area saw more than 49,000 job lost in March, said Parker Harvey Senior Economist for Workforce Solutions, “The area typically sees a large drop in employment following the end of the year as seasonal retail positions fall off and federal and state agencies make major adjustments to the data.”
“This report is a little above the historic average of 44,000 jobs lost in January, so it’s not clear if this indicates weakness in the overall Houston economy,” he said noting that nearly all employment sectors saw losses during the month.
Trade, Transportation, and Utilities lost more than 18,000 (the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics places retail jobs in this category). Followed by public sector job losses of 8,700 – nearly twice the long-term average. Harvey says this dip, attributed to public school system employment, is not unexpected and is expected to rebound to pre-holiday levels in February.
The Mining and Logging sector, which includes oil field jobs, added 300 positions for the month, which is far stronger than the historic average of -800 jobs in January.
Houston’s unemployment rate jumped a half-point to 5.8%
February’s report will be released March 24.
Local information can be found at wrksolutions.com/for-employers/key-industry-sectors/where-the-jobs-are.