Texas unemployment drops below 6 percent

[JayS]

Ha! You get rid of Bush and things start getting better! :)




June 17, 2004, 5:37PM
Texas unemployment drops below 6 percent
Associated Press
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/2632768


AUSTIN - The state unemployment rate has fallen below 6 percent for the first time since December 2001, the Texas Workforce Commission said today.

The Texas jobless rate fell to 5.9 percent in May from 6 percent in April but remained higher than the national unemployment rate of 5.6 percent.

Houston's unemployment rate, however, snuck up from 6.0 to 6.1 percent. Unlike the state numbers, the local numbers are not adjusted to reflect seasonal fluctuations in the employment picture.

*SNIP*

Initial claims for unemployment compensation fell in the week ending June 5 and have dropped more than 30 percent from a year ago.

*SNIP*

The following are the preliminary May unemployment rates and revised April rates in parentheses for Texas metropolitan areas. The figures are not seasonally adjusted.

Abilene 3.4. (3.3)

Amarillo 3.1 (3.1)

Austin-San Marcos 4.3 (4.3)

Beaumont-Port Arthur 8.7 (8.4)

Brazoria 8.1 (7.6)

Brownsville-Harlingen 9.2 (9.3)

Bryan-College Station 1.8 (1.7)

Corpus Christi 6.8 (6.1)

Dallas 5.9 (5.8)

El Paso 7.4 (7.3)

Fort Worth-Arlington 5.4 (5.3)

Galveston-Texas City 7.6 (7.2)

Houston 6.1 (6.0)

Killeen-Temple 4.4 (4.3)

Laredo 6.2 (6.6)

Longview-Marshall 5.3 (5.3)

Lubbock 3.0 (2.9)

McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 10.6 (11.0)

Odessa-Midland 4.8 (4.6)

San Angelo 3.2 (3.1)

San Antonio 4.8 (4.8)

Sherman-Denison 5.6 (5.8)

Texarkana not available

Tyler 4.0 (4.1)

Victoria 4.4 (4.2)

Waco 4.1 (3.9)

Wichita Falls 3.7 (3.7)

[theivoryqueen]

1. my ass - the numbers look better cause

they are factored for NEW filings - and everybody who has already been laid off has given up = and run out of unemployment insurance. From where I sit - at the base of the big D skyline - it looks a lot higher than 5.9 percent.

[mhr]

2. Ditto That Ivory Queen - Been Out Of Work In The Big D For 4 Years!

eom

[tritsofme]

3. Except the unemployment rate is independent

from filings of unemployment insurance.

It is calculated by the BLS from the Household Survey, which is a survey of 60,000 households that is representative of the nation.

The only way that you drop off the unemployment rate is if you indicate that you are no longer looking for work.

[JayS]

4. But it makes such a lovely headline! :) n/t

n/t