A little offshore drilling ban won’t keep Houston down. Houston Business Journal reports that Houston’s job market added 9500 non-Ag jobs in October. Houston continues to outperform the national unemployment rate at 8.2%.
The Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown metropolitan area added some 9,500 nonagricultural jobs in October, according a report released Friday by the Texas Workforce Commission.
The government sector continued to feed the majority of the employment, creating 8,400 jobs during the month. Both construction and the trade, transportation and utilities sectors contributed as well by adding 2,400 and 2,100 jobs respectively.
October job gains were offset by continued loss in the leisure and hospitality sector of 2,800 jobs, and 1,700 jobs lost in the professional and business services sector.
Overall, the Houston-area unemployment rate held steady at 8.2 percent between September and October, as 2,300 people joined the ranks of the unemployed and the civilian labor force dropped by 700. The October unemployment rate is up just slightly from the 8.1 percent unemployment recorded in October 2009.
