As the city's monthly and yearly job figures increased during April, the employment situation continued to worsen for those seeking Austin construction jobs, as the city's construction industry saw the second-largest decline in employment.
While the Austin area's unemployment rate for April has yet to be released, the rate in Texas increased from 8.2 percent to 8.3 percent, which is lower than the national average of 9.9 percent. Austin had an unemployment rate of 7.1 percent during March.
The Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos area had a total non-farm employment of 763,200 workers during April, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is up from 760,400 workers during March and a .1 percent increase from last year.
Seven industries managed to see a monthly increase in employment during April, including: leisure and hospitality by 1,500 jobs; education and health services by 700 jobs; professional and business services by 500 jobs; other services by 300 jobs; trade, transportation and utilities by 100 jobs; financial activities by 100 jobs; and government by 100 jobs.
The leisure and hospitality industry added the most jobs over the year, increasing by 6.1 percent between April 2009 and April 2010 to 88,200 workers. The education and health services industry grew by 2.9 percent to 85,900 workers.
The other services industry saw its workforce rise by 2.4 percent to 33,800 jobs, while the government industry increased by 1.4 percent during the 12-month period.
Employment in the financial activities industry remained even over the year with 43,800 jobs.
The manufacturing industry took the biggest hit when compared to last year. The industry employed 46,500 workers during April, down from 46,700 workers during March and a 6.3 percent decrease from last year.
That was closely followed by the mining, logging and construction industry. That industry employed 38,500 workers during April, down from 38,700 workers during March and a 5.6 percent decrease from April 2009.
Other industries that saw an over-the-year decrease in employment include: trade, transportation and utilities by .8 percent; information by 4 percent; and professional and business services by 2.4 percent.
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