For the sixth consecutive month, the unemployment rate has dropped in Texas, according to information released for July by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
In a report issued Friday by BLS, Texas’ unemployment rate fell to 4.0% for July, down from 4.8% at the start of the year. The rate decreased 1.6% from the state’s jobless rate in July 2021. July’s unemployment rate for Texas was the lowest since February 2020.
Nationally, the unemployment rate settled at 3.5% in July, down slightly from June. Year over year, the national unemployment rate is down 1.9% for July. All 50 states had lower unemployment rates from a year earlier, the report said.
Fourteen states and the District of Columbia saw lower jobless rates for July, with Minnesota carrying the month’s lowest rate of 1.8%.
Of all the states, 17 had unemployment rates lower than the national average for July, while 23 states had rates comparable to the national average of 3.5%.
Several states, including Alaska, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Washington, ended July with their lowest jobless rates since the BLS began compiling the statistics.
Ten states had higher-than-national rates, as did the District of Columbia, which had the highest rate for July at 5.2%. Alaska and New Mexico also had higher rates at 4.5%.
Month over month, 33 states had unemployment rates with minimal changes, while 14 states experienced decreases from June. New Mexico had the largest decrease, with a drop of 0.4% from last month. Indiana’s unemployment rate increased by 0.2%, and Montana and Nebraska each saw a rise in unemployment of 0.1%.
Texas added 72,800 new jobs over the month, behind California (84,800) and Florida (73,800). Hawaii had the largest percentage increase with 1.3% over the month, and Arkansas and Missouri each had 0.9% increases.
While 20 other states saw payroll employment increases, the remaining 28 states and the District of Columbia saw no change.
Two states, Tennessee and Kentucky, both saw employment decreases from June to July. Tennessee’s jobs decreased by 12,400, down 0.4%, while Kentucky lost 11,400 jobs, pulling the state’s rate down 0.6%.
Texas had the largest percentage increase in job gains over the year, with a 5.8% rise in payroll employment, according to the report. There were 736,700 job gains in the state since July 2021, with only California having a larger employment increase, up 740,000. Florida trailed the top three with 437,800 in job gains since last year.