(HOUSTON, Texas, October 18, 2024) Private employment in the Houston area treaded water during September, despite a positive overall month of hiring, according to figures released this morning by Workforce Solutions. The Houston-Sugar Land-The Woodlands MSA added 11,700 jobs during the first month of fall thanks to the return of teachers and educational support personnel to the classroom.
The Government sector, comprised primarily of those public education workers, grew by 13,900 in September, helping lift overall employment into the positive territory, according to Workforce Solutions economist Parker Harvey. “At first glance these gains appear lower than ‘normal’; however this fails to account for school districts starting the academic year earlier in August,” he said.
“Combining August with September’s hiring in the sector brings it back in line with the long term average of 15,100,” Harvey said.
When Government sector hiring is stripped out of the report, September showed a net loss of 2,200 private-sector jobs led by the Leisure & Hospitality sector, which shed 3,300 positions. “This, too, is part of a typical spring/fall cycle of restaurants and entertainment venues staffing up for the summer and cutting back as the weather cools,” Harvey said.
The Construction sector, however, continues to be a bright spot, adding 2,300 jobs during September, the third largest gain on record, led by hiring in the civil and heavy construction sub-sector (+1,100). Construction hiring was also revised upward for August by 800 jobs.
Not-seasonally adjusted unemployment in the Houston area stands at 4.4 percent, down a third of a point from August. Seasonally-adjusted unemployment for July was unchanged at 4.4 percent. Both remain slightly higher than they were a year ago (4.2%).
Additional labor market information, including the detailed September report, can be found online at www.wrksolutions.com/localstats. The Texas Workforce Commission will release October employment data on November 15 , 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.
