Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) said the state’s employment picture is looking better after the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) released figures showing the addition of 55,800 jobs over the month of June.
The governor’s webpage said the rise marks gains in 13 of the past 14 months, and signaled a return to more normal times as people returned to work in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Our greatest natural resource is the people of Texas,” Abbott said in a tweet. “And it is because of the hardworking people of this great state that we are building an even stronger, more prosperous Texas of tomorrow."
Abbott said the unemployment rate in Texas had dipped to 6.5%. He described the state’s economy as “booming.”
“Businesses are investing in the Lone Star State at a record pace because we've built a framework that allows free enterprise to flourish and hardworking Texans to prosper,” Abbott said on his website. “The June jobs report shows that our young, growing and skilled workforce has forged a diversified and resilient economy, with Texas employers adding back more than 1.1 million jobs since the end of April 2020, the peak pandemic impact on jobs.”
MyTXCareer.com, a jobs posting website, said there are 930,000 available jobs in 866,000 postings online.
An NBC5DFW report said initially the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas had forecast a gloomier estimate in May, predicting a job growth rate of 4.1% in 2021. The numbers in June, however, showed a stronger bounce-back.
The updated forecast predicts 695,600 jobs added this year and a total employed number of 13 million by December.
Merchants in San Antonio interviewed in a FOX 29 report said they are eager to hire new workers. Across Texas the report said the unemployment rate since the height of the pandemic (May 2020) has been cut in half.
The new slogan is, “Texas is hiring.”