As employment jumped over the month, Houston medical jobs and education jobs added the most workers over the year.
Although the December 2009 unemployment rate for the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown area has not yet been released, the rate throughout Texas as a whole was 8.3 percent that month, lower than the national unemployment rate of 10 percent. Houston had an unemployment rate of 8.2 percent during November.
The area had a total non-farm employment of 2,535,600 workers during December, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is up from 2,532,900 workers during November, but a 3.5 percent decrease from December 2008.
A whopping seven industries managed to see a monthly increase in employment, including: mining and logging by 300 jobs; manufacturing by 100 jobs; trade, transportation and utilities by 4,100 jobs; financial activities by 200 jobs; education and health services by 400 jobs; leisure and hospitality by 600 jobs; and other services by 100 jobs. Employment in the information industry remained even over the month with 34,300 jobs.
In addition, three industries saw a yearly increase in employment, with the education and health services industry adding the most jobs. The industry employed 296,600 workers during December, up from 296,200 workers during November and a 2.3 percent increase from December 2008.
The government industry employed 372,700 workers during December, down from 375,800 workers during November, but a 1.4 percent increase from the previous year. The leisure and hospitality industry employed 230,600 workers during December, up from 230,000 workers during November and a .7 percent increase from December 2008.
The construction industry took the biggest hit over the year. The industry employed 178,400 workers during December, down from 178,900 workers during November and a 12.5 percent decrease from December 2008.
Other industries that saw an over-the-year decrease in employment include:
mining and logging by 2.3 percent
manufacturing by 7.8 percent
trade, transportation and utilities by 6.4 percent
information by 5 percent
financial activities by 1.5 percent
professional and business services by 4.7 percent
other services by 2.9 percent
Tags: Houston medical jobs