McAllen Holds Strong on Employment; City Checks In at 7.7%
by
Office of Communications and Media Relations | Jul 25, 2013
McALLEN (July 22, 2013) – The City’s June unemployment rate, the lowest in the Rio Grande Valley and lower than this time last year, inched up just a bit in June to 7.7%, according to the Texas Workforce Commission’s latest unadjusted job numbers.
McAllen’s figures reflect an overall upward June trend in unemployment in Texas that saw most cities and metro areas go up about half a percentage point from May. The state’s unemployment rate for June was 6.9%, up from 6.5% in May. Still, Texas joblessness is lower now than a year ago (June 2012 – 7.5%).
In June, 56,807 people were employed in McAllen against 4,718 unemployed for its 7.7% rate. June’s rate is the highest of the year for the city, but like the state, it was lower than in June 2012 (8.2%). Summer months typically register a higher rate, which some experts attribute to students and others who hit the job market during that time.
Among major cities in South Texas and the RGV, Corpus Christi had the lowest unemployment checking in at 6.1%. Laredo was next at 7.2%, followed by McAllen 7.7%, then Edinburg 8.2%, Harlingen and Mission 8.5%, Pharr 10.7%, Brownsville 11.4% and Weslaco 11.7%.
The McAllen-Edinburg-Mission MSA recorded an 11.6% jobless rate (283,236 employed, 34,509 unemployed). Meanwhile, the Brownsville-Harlingen had unemployment rate of 11.1% for June (146,702 and 18,225). Both areas were among the state’s highest for joblessness.
In the McAllen Metro Area, Education and Health Services lead all industries in employment with close to 60,000 jobs. That was followed by the government and trade/transportation sectors with 54,000 and 50,000 jobs respectively in the county.