Construction sector reaches 32 months of year-over-year growth
(HOUSTON, TX – April 18, 2024) Houston-area employers added a tepid 1,100 jobs in March with six of the eleven industry sectors posting losses, according to figures released this morning by Workforce Solutions. Typically during the first month of Spring, the region adds about 12,000 jobs, putting it at odds with the long-term average.
Government sector employers drove hiring, adding 2,100 jobs, followed closely by the addition of 1,600 jobs in both the Construction and Mining & Logging sectors during March. The Construction sector posted its largest monthly gain on record, led by strong hiring in the Specialty Trade Contractors subsector which added 1,200 jobs. Despite persistently high interest rates, March marks 32 consecutive months of year-over-year growth.
Losses in Trade, Transportation & Utilities (-2,000 mainly retail jobs), Professional & Business Services (-1,500), and Manufacturing (-1,100) offset the bulk of March’s gains and stands in contrast to their usual performance during the month of March.
The not-seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for March stands at 4.3 percent, down 0.3 percent from February. The seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for February remained steady at 4.2 percent.
February’s hiring was revised downward by 1,200, for a small net gain of 22,400 versus the 24,600 originally reported. Downward revisions in Trade, Transportation & Utilities, Mining & Logging, and Construction of more than 1,600 jobs.
Additional labor market information, including the detailed March report can be found online at www.wrksolutions.com/localstats. The Texas Workforce Commission will release April employment data on May 17, 2024.
ABOUT WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS: Workforce Solutions is dedicated to keeping the Texas Gulf Coast region a great place to do business, work and live. Our employer-driven, people-focused approach elevates the economic and human potential of the region to attract and retain the best employers, afford everyone the dignity of a job, and remain indispensable to the global economy. As the public workforce system for 13 counties in the Houston-Galveston region, we work in tandem with the Texas Workforce Commission and the statewide Workforce Solutions network to maintain the state’s largest job-match database – www.WorkInTexas.com.
