AUSTIN – Today, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released state-level labor market data for March 2018. Texas employers created the most net nonfarm jobs (+32,000) and joined Utah as the only two states with significantly positive job creation in March. The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s director of the Center for Economic Prosperity and senior economist Dr. Vance Ginn issued the following statement:
“Even as more people continue to move to Texas, primarily from states with high taxes and high costs of living, employers in the Lone Star State continue to keep pace with hiring,” said Dr. Ginn. “Economic prosperity comes in many forms, but one of the best predictors is having a job. The Texas Legislature and local governments should remove barriers to entrepreneurship so even more Texans can find a job and prosper.”
The Texas Workforce Commission reports diversified job creation across all industries in Texas except information last month, with 294,100 jobs created in last twelve months. Texas’ unemployment rate of 4 percent in March has been at or below 5 percent for 45 straight months.
The unemployment rate in major Texas metro areas remained essentially unchanged last month: Austin-Round Rock at 3.1 percent, Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington at 3.7 percent, Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land at 4.6 percent, and San Antonio-New Braunfels at 3.5 percent.
For more information, please contact Alicia Pierce at [email protected] or 512-472-2700.
Vance Ginn, Ph.D. is Director of the Center for Economic Prosperity and Senior Economist at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin.
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