AUSTIN – The Texas Workforce Commission on Friday released labor market data for June 2015. The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Fiscal Policy Economist Dr. Vance Ginn issued the following statement:
“Texas has now had positive job creation for the third month in a row despite worries regarding the effect that low oil prices may have on the labor market. The 16,700 net nonfarm jobs added in June is the 56th out of 57 months that the state has achieved positive job growth. Total job creation during the last year is now 269,900 for a 2.3 percent annual pace. These jobs were added in many sectors of the state’s highly diversified economy, but even the mining and logging industry, which is dominated by oil and gas jobs and one that has taken a hit in previous months, increased their workforce by 2,700 last month. The unemployment rate dropped to an eight-year low of 4.2 percent, extending its streak to 102 consecutive months at or below the national average of 5.3 percent. This is just another signal that the Texas model of pro-growth policies and a diversified economy help to make Texas more resilient to headwinds and leave more opportunities for Texans to prosper.”
Vance Ginn, Ph.D. is an Economist in the Center for Fiscal Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin, Texas.