State says job growth surged in January

But Houston area continues to lag rest of the state in its job growth

Texas employers added more than 51,000 jobs in January as the recovery in the oil and gas industry advanced, the state Workforce Commission reported.

Job growth in Texas surged in January as conditions in the oil and gas industry improved and optimism among employers increased.

Texas employers added more than 51,000 jobs in January, led by hiring in professional and business services, such as lawyers, accountants and consultants, which gained 14,000 jobs, as well as manufacturing, which added 7,300 positions, the state Workforce Commission reported. It was biggest monthly gain in manufacturing since 1990.

Oil and gas added 1,900 jobs in January, as the rig count continued to increase, although the industry’s payrolls are still 10 percent lower than a year ago. The number of rigs in Texas has more than doubled to 390 since hitting bottom in May, with the state accounting for more than half the 748 rigs in operation across the U.S., according to Houston oil field services company Baker Hughes.

The unemployment rate was 4.8 percent, unchanged from the previous month.

In surveys by the Dallas Federal Reserve, businesses in the state have reported hiring and sales increases in recent months, buoyed by the yet-unrealized promise of regulatory rollbacks on energy production, agriculture and manufacturing coming from the ad-

ministration of President Donald Trump.

Dallas Fed economists wrote this week they expect the Texas economy to shift into a higher gear this year, projecting annual employment growth will accelerate to as much as 2.5 percent.

Houston, however, continues to lag the rest of the state, with job growth essentially flat over the past year. Houston’s unemployment rate climbed to 5.8 percent in January, from 4.9 percent a year ago. Analysts said that could be an indication that workers are coming off the sidelines to look for jobs as the market comes back, although the economy is not yet growing fast enough to absorb them.

Local economic conditions have shown slow but consistent improvement in recent months. The local purchasing managers’ index, a poll of area businesses that serves as a broad measure of industrial activity, showed increases in sales, purchases and employment in January — its fifth month of positive territory.

The state’s most oil- and gas-dependent metro areas, Midland and Odessa, are still showing employment declines of 2.2 percent and 2.6 percent over the year. Jobs in College Station grew at 5.4 percent, faster than anywhere in the state.