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The unemployment rates for metro Houston, Texas, and the nation ticked up in January, according to the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC). Houston’s unemployment rate rose from 3.8 to 4.4 percent, Texas from 3.5 to 4.1 percent, and the U.S. rate from 3.5 to 4.1 percent. The rise reflects a typical seasonal pattern and not a softening of the economy. The workforce always experiences a slight rise in unemployment as temp workers hired for the holiday season are let go.

There were 159,198 Houstonians unemployed and looking for work in January, up from 137,287 in December. TWC estimates Houston’s labor force at 3,646,931, up roughly 73,000 workers from a year ago.

Among cities in the metro area for which TWC publishes unemployment rates, Bryan had the lowest rate in December and Baytown the highest.

Initial claims filed for unemployment benefits peaked in mid-June ’20, trended down through October ’21, and have remained flat since.

Continued claims filed by workers unemployed for a week or more inched up early in ’23, slipped going into the fall, and ticked up again in November and December. The 32,416 claims filed this January reflect an increase of roughly 6,000 claims over January last year but only a nominal increase over December.

Prepared by Greater Houston Partnership Research

Patrick Jankowski, CERP
Chief Economist 
Senior Vice President, Research
pjankowski@ngskmc-eis.net

Leta Wauson
Research Director
lwauson@ngskmc-eis.net