Summer ends with job gains for local and state economies
The Houston economy accelerated in August, besting the job growth of the previous two months as the energy industry continues to recover and the construction industry shows no sign of slowing in post-Hurricane Harvey rebuilding.
Houston employers added 12,900 jobs in August, after creating 4,800 in July and 9,100 in June, the U.S. Labor Department reported Friday. Over the past year, Houston gained 110,200 jobs, boosting the region’s employment by 3.7 percent. The rate of job growth easily beat that of state, which still expanded employment at a robust 3.2 percent rate.
The statewide economy, which created 395,000 jobs over the past year, is humming for many of the same reasons Houston has steadily gained jobs. The oil industry, which spawned widespread job cuts as oil prices plummeted into early 2016, is recovering. Residents continue to rebuild after the devastating effects of Hurricane Harvey. And the population continues to grow, spurring demand
for health care, grocery stores and other consumer services.
August job gains were broad-based in Texas, which added 32,000 jobs, including in key sectors associated with the energy industry, which tend to pay higher wages. Mining and logging, the sector dominated by the oil and gas industry, added 2,700 jobs in August, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. Manufacturing added 3,200. Professional, scientific and technical services, which includes technology, engineering and consulting firms, many tied to the energy industry, gained 4,600 last month.
The state unemployment rate fell from 4 percent in July to 3.9 percent, matching the national jobless rate.
For Houston, August marked the 11th consecutive month of job gains, with the energy sector, led by services firms, adding nearly 2,000 jobs. But employers here still appear to be wary that the recovery is here to stay, said Parker Harvey, principal economist for Workforce Solutions, a regional workforce development organization. Employment services, which includes temporary staffing firms, experienced some of strongest job growth, increasing by more than 18 percent, or about 15,000 jobs over the year — a sign that employers aren’t ready to commit to permanent employees.
Construction companies have also been on a roll as they work through a backlog of projects as the rebuilding from Hurricane Harvey, which hit Houston in August 2017, continues. The overall construction sector added 29,000 jobs over the year, an increase of 13.5 percent. Building construction jobs surged 29 percent.
“A lot of people are left in the queue,” said Harvey. “It could continue to go on until next year.”
The Houston unemployment rate was 4.3 percent in August, down from 5.1 percent in August 2017.