Austin up 18,600 jobs in July; jobless rate falls to 7.3 percent (Howe: real estate, month-to-month)

[CptnRn]

Austin up 18,600 jobs in July; jobless rate falls to 7.3 percent - Austin Business Journal (http://houston.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2010/08/16/daily71.html - broken link)

The Central Texas unemployment rate fell to 7.3 percent in July, adding 18,600 jobs from the same month last year, according to the most recent numbers from the Texas Workforce Commission.
The area actually lost about 5,700 positions from June to July, primarily in government, while the unemployment rate fell slightly from the 7.4 percent in June and 7.5 percent in July 2009. The Texas unemployment rate was stable month-to-month at 8.5 percent in July and up from the 8.3 percent rate the same month last year. The national rate increased slightly to 9.7 percent.

I was happy to see "Construction, professional services and manufacturing each added 100 jobs from June to July".

[geoquiz3000]

Wow, 5,200 government jobs lost month-to-month; that seems really high... post Census slump? UT cuts? Still seems like a lot. Anyone have any insight?

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by geoquiz3000

Wow, 5,200 government jobs lost month-to-month; that seems really high... post Census slump? UT cuts? Still seems like a lot. Anyone have any insight?

Census and seasonal employment decline as UT / other schools go into summer. Remember, these are stats for July -- reflecting jobs that were there for some part of June, then gone.

However, UT has been hinting it will cut 600-700 permanent jobs.

[orbius]

Just for clarification that 18,600 job increase is year on year. From June 2010 to July 2010 the area lost 5,700 jobs.
Theres stability generally in people already employed in Austin which is a good thing. But I wonder how many of the thousands and thousands of people pouring into the region are finding work and how many arent. I think these people have to be residents for a year before they're counted in Texas employment statistics.

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by orbius

Just for clarification that 18,600 job increase is year on year. From June 2010 to July 2010 the area lost 5,700 jobs.
Theres stability generally in people already employed in Austin which is a good thing. But I wonder how many of the thousands and thousands of people pouring into the region are finding work and how many arent. I think these people have to be residents for a year before they're counted in Texas employment statistics.

Orbius, you are right about the slight "cooking" of stats here, the same slight of hand they use for real estate sales. The gov't job cuts were prob a long time coming, and a "one off" thing....and if you look carefully, you can see the jobs growth largely came from low-wage jobs in hospitality.
Apples and oranges comparing a 80K Systems Analyst position with someone rolling burritos in a strip-mall.......

The most pertinent thing is, how many people are moving into Austin right now WITHOUT jobs, adding to the rolls, or apps? There is a diff between a moving target, which is the reality of what is going on, and a snapshot, which a glossed over stat is nothing but. Numbers need to be put in context here, and given a dose of reality and three-dimensions...

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by inthecut

and if you look carefully, you can see the jobs growth largely came from low-wage jobs in hospitality.
Apples and oranges comparing a 80K Systems Analyst position with someone rolling burritos in a strip-mall...

It is easy to loose sight of the fact that some people with few skills need to those low-wage jobs in hospitality to feed their families.

9% of both men and women working in Austin work in the Accommodation and Food Services industries.

According to CityData 6% of the households in Austin (18,785) have an income of less then $20K per year, that is higher then the state average of 5.7%.