Austin keeps truckin' on job creation

Providing more evidence of Austin's economic resilience, the region added 4,100 jobs last month with big gains in sectors such as hospitality and professional and business services.
The April additions included 900 new positions each in the government and leisure/hospitality sectors. Professional/business services added 500 jobs as did retail trade, according to the latest figures from the Texas Workforce Commission.

In the last year, Austin has gained 20,100 jobs for an annual growth rate of 2.7 percent. Retail trade added 2,900 jobs since April 2007; professional/business services added 5,700 positions, leisure and hospitality grew by 2,900 and government increased by 3,700 jobs. The largest job declines came in the manufacturing sector, which saw a year-over-year drop of 2,100 positions.

The unemployment rate in the Austin-Round Rock area stood at 3.3 percent in April, down from 3.2 percent a year earlier. That remains better than the Texas unemployment rate at 3.9 percent and the national rate at 4.8 percent.
Texas employers added a total of 15,400 jobs in April for a 12-month job increase of 262,000 positions since April 2007.

Austin Business Journal