DALLAS (AP) - The Texas unemployment rate dropped to 3.9 percent
in April.
It's the lowest unemployment rate the state's labor force has
seen for April since 1979.
The March jobless rate in Texas was 4.2 percent.
The Texas Workforce Commission says the ranks of the unemployed
decreased by an estimated 40,200 in April -- to 448,700.
The nationwide jobless rate for April was 4.8 percent.
Texas employers added 15,400 jobs in April. The biggest gain was
in the financial services sector.
Midland had the lowest April unemployment rate in the state at
2.4 percent.
The highest jobless rate in the state was in the
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission area, at 5.7 percent.
The statewide numbers were adjusted for seasonal trends in
hiring and firing.
.....
Following are preliminary April jobless rates for areas in
Texas, with revised March numbers in parentheses. The figures are
not seasonally adjusted. The statewide unadjusted jobless rate was
3.9 percent in April, down from 4.2 percent in March.
Abilene 3.2 (3.5)
Amarillo 2.8 (3.1)
Austin-Round Rock 3.3 (3.7)
Beaumont-Port Arthur 5.0 (5.4)
Brownsville-Harlingen 5.4 (5.8)
College Station-Bryan 3.1 (3.3)
Corpus Christi 3.8 (4.2)
Dallas-Plano-Irving 4.0 (4.3)
El Paso 5.0 (5.5)
Fort Worth-Arlington 3.8 (4.1)
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown 3.8 (4.1)
Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood 4.0 (4.4)
Laredo 4.6 (4.9)
Longview 3.3 (3.7)
Lubbock 4.2 (3.3)
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 5.7 (6.4)
Midland 2.4 (2.6)
Odessa 2.8 (3.0)
San Angelo 3.2 (3.5)
San Antonio 3.6 (3.9)
Sherman-Denison 4.4 (4.6)
Texarkana 3.9 (4.3)
Tyler 4.0 (4.4)
Victoria 3.1 (3.4)
Waco 3.5 (3.9)
Wichita Falls 3.5 (3.9)

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)