Unemployment in Texas and the Austin Metroplex

Unemployed people receiving federal extended unemployment benefits discovered an unheralded feature of that program when the Texas unemployment rate briefly dropped to 7.9%, i.e., federal extended benefits are not paid when the rate is below 8%. The headline unemployment rate, aka U3, for Texas is now 8.8% following layoffs of public employees and teachers. The fabled job creation rate of the Austin metroplex became 0% statistically, with an estimated 300 jobs created, and unemployment in the metroplex increased from 6.8% to 7.6%.

See this Austin Business Journal article for more information by industry.