Labor Market Intelligence
Coastal Bend Demonstrates Economic Strength
March 2024 LMI
**Released April 19, 2024. Reflects data up to March 2024. **
Unemployment Rate
Month-Over-Month Shifts
n today’s release by the Texas Workforce Commission for March 2024, the unemployment rate for the Coastal Bend region decreased (-0.2%) from 4.7% in February 2024 to 4.5%. Ten out of the eleven counties in the Coastal Bend region experienced a decrease in their unemployment rates. As of March 2024, the 4.5% unemployment rate represented 11,854 residents seeking employment.
Year-Over-Year Shifts
Coastal Bend’s unemployment rate decreased by (-0.1%) from 4.6% in March 2023 to 4.5% in March 2024. Within the eleven counties of the Coastal Bend region, six counties witnessed a reduction in their unemployment rates during the same period.
Comparison with State and National Trends
In Texas, the unemployment rate decreased (-0.3%) from 4.4% in February 2024 to 4.1% in March 2024. Texas’ year-over-year rate witnessed an increase of 0.1% from 4.0% to 4.1%. Similarly, the national unemployment rate decreased by (-0.3%) from 4.2% in February 2024 to 3.9% in March 2024, and saw an increase of 0.3% year-over-year.
Texas Labor Market Growth Continues into 2024
The Texas labor market maintained its momentum in March to reach a 35th consecutive month of positive annual growth and once again set new record-high levels for jobs, Texas employed, and the civilian labor force. Texas’ seasonally adjusted total nonfarm job count increased to 14,115,700 after 19,100 jobs were added over the month in March, reflecting growth in 45 of the last 47 months.
Texas also led the nation with the largest absolute over-the-year increase in total nonfarm employment, which grew by 270,700 jobs from March 2023 to March 2024. This represents a 2.0% annual growth rate in Texas, which outpaced the U.S. growth rate by 0.1%.
Sectors Driving Growth
Both the Coastal Bend region and the Corpus Christi Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) displayed growth in diverse industries, weekly wages, and year-over-year employment statistics.
The Construction industry experienced a 17.6% increase region wide, followed by the Financial Activities industry which increased to 6.5% compared to March 2023.
For the Corpus Christi MSA, the Mining, Logging and Construction industry lead the growth rate with a 11.7% increase in 2023, followed by the Financial Activities industry with a 4.4% year-over-year.
Resources
Job seekers in this region have access to *14,563 job openings spanning various sectors. To explore these job opportunities, individuals can register in WorkinTexas.com or visit our website at wfscb.org
*Advertised jobs are spidered daily in real-time. Real-time advertised jobs are collected from employer corporate sites, hospitals, non-profits, local and federal government agencies, schools and universities, recruiter sites, newspapers, volunteer sites, and other public, private, and state job boards.
Labor Market Information Definitions
Not Seasonally Adjusted (Actual) – Data has not been subjected to the seasonal adjustment process. In other words, the effects of regular or seasonal patterns have not been removed from these series. Not seasonally adjusted data is available for smaller geographies, where seasonally adjusted is only available down to the state level. Use this data to view raw numbers, and for geographies smaller than state level.
Seasonally Adjusted – Total employment and unemployment vary throughout the year. For example, higher unemployment in January and February isn’t uncommon because of work in agriculture, construction and other seasonal industries slowing down. Also, both employment and unemployment rise every June, when students enter the labor force in search of summer jobs. Seasonally adjusted numbers also take into account seasonal hiring/layoff patterns that go along with winter and summer holidays. Use this data for month-to-month comparisons for Texas and the United States.
Labor Force – Residents who are at least 16 years old, not serving in the military or institutionalized, and employed or seeking employment.
Download Targeted Occupations List 2022-2023 (PDF)
The targeted occupations list is developed by Workforce Solutions of the Coastal Bend for the most effective use of local workforce development resources. Sources of information for the target list are local area employers, economic development entities, chambers of commerce, community partners, Texas Workforce Commission labor market information regarding the Coastal Bend Counties, and knowledge gained from continuous contact with the above sources.
Workforce Solutions of the Coastal Bend’s Strategic Business Plan 2021-2025 has been updated to comply with Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) regulations. The final draft has been approved by the Texas Workforce Commission.
Written comments were submitted electronically to amy.villarreal@workforcesolutionscb.org, delivered via mail or in-person to the Board Administrative offices to Amy Kiddy Villarreal, Chief Operating Officer at 400 Mann St. Suite 800, Corpus Christi TX 78401
Have A Workforce Professional Contact You!
Workforce Professionals are virtually available to assist you by phone, text, email, and online.
(361) 882-7491
info@workforcesolutionscb.org
Local Labor Market Information
The Texas Workforce Commission collects information from Unemployment Insurance claims coupled with data from the Current Employment Statistics Program and data from other sources to produce estimates of total employment, unemployment, and unemployment rates for the 27 Metropolitan Statistical Areas, and all 254 counties in the state.
Each month, the Local Area Labor Market Information (LMI) is distributed to the Coastal Bend community. These rates are provided to a wide variety of users both inside and outside government and are used as a basic allocator for federal funding in many programs.
Check out the latest Local Labor Market Information (LMI) for the Coastal Bend.
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