Brownsville-Harlingen unemployment drops: McAllen metro unchanged November to December

Steve Clark, The Brownsville Herald, Texas
·2 min read

Feb. 6—The Texas Employment Forecast for 2023, released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas on Friday, shows falling unemployment in the Brownsville-Harlingen metro area for the month of December.

The metro area's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell from 6.1 percent to 6 percent from November to December, according to the report, which showed the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission unemployment rate steady at 7.1 percent over the same period.

An accompanying graph for Brownsville-Harlingen illustrates a record low unemployment rate of 5.3 percent in February 2020, followed by a sudden, massive spike as the COVID-19 pandemic and business closures swept the Rio Grande Valley. The graph shows unemployment peaking at nearly 16 percent in April 2020 before starting a sharp, relatively steady drop almost immediately.

Data for McAllen-Edinburg-Mission shows unemployment at 6.3 percent in February 2020, followed by a spike to 17.4 percent in April 2020 due to the pandemic, and likewise a rapid drop in the rate beginning soon after the April peak. Unemployment decreased to 3.9 percent statewide in December.

The Dallas Fed's statewide outlook predicts job growth of 1.4 percent for 2023 — not nearly as good as last year.

"This represents a significant slowing from last year's pace of 3.5 percent," the report's authors state.

Still, defying expectations of weaker job growth, Texas ended the year on a "robust note," adding more than 452,000 jobs, with 13.5 million state residents employed, according to the report.

"Job gains were broad-based across all sectors," said Luis Torres, Dallas Fed senior business economist. "Strength in 2022 was led by employment increases in energy, leisure and hospitality and information services."

The Fed forecasts 193,000 more jobs being added this year, with 13.7 million Texas residents expected to be employed by December. Across the United States, employers added 517,000 jobs, far surpassing estimates of 187,000 new jobs for the month.

For more information about the Texas Employment Forecast go to dallasfed.org.