Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Odessa American, Texas
by Jon Vanderlaan
The unemployment rate in the Permian Basin continued to fall last month as oilfield and service jobs have seen yet more increases in employees.
Willie Taylor, the executive director of the Permian Basin Texas Workforce Development Board, said as long as the oil and gas industry stays strong, the unemployment numbers will continue to drop.
"We don't want to use the 'boom' word right now, but our market is really great," he said.
Employment in the goods producing industry in Odessa, including mining (which includes oil) and manufacturing, increased by 1,300 jobs from April 2010 to April 2011, with service providing employment rising by 1,400 jobs.
Midland numbers reflect a similar increase with 1,200 service providing jobs added and 1,500 goods producing jobs added.
Taylor said as long as the oil and gas industry continues to do well, the unemployment rate will continue to lower. Forecasters predict the good market in those industries could last another three years, he said.
"We will continue to see (unemployment rates) drop as long as we got people coming in and going into the job market," he said. "We're looking at a strong economy and it's going to be around for quite some time."
Unemployment in the Odessa metropolitan statistical area dropped to 6.1 percent in April after a 6.3 percent unemployment rate in March. There was a 7.9 percent unemployment rate in April 2010.
The number of those employed has increased more than the 1,000 people that joined the workforce in Odessa, growing 2,350 from April 2010 to April 2011.The number of unemployed dropped by almost 1,300 people in the area to 4,466 people.
The Midland metropolitan statistical area saw a drop in unemployment during the past year from 5.3 percent to 4.4 percent, retaining its grip on the state's lowest unemployment for cities.
The Midland area had 2,221 people join the employment ranks from April 2010 to the same time this year to bring the total up to 75,202 people. The number of unemployed in the area dropped from 4,055 to 3,441, despite an increase of almost 1,600 people in the workforce.
The Texas Workforce Commission said Friday the state added 32,900 jobs, the seventh consecutive month of job growth in Texas.
The jobless rate dropped to 8.0 percent from 8.1 percent in March and 8.2 percent a year ago. The Texas unemployment rate remained well below the national rate of 9.0 percent.
The unemployment rate fell last month in more than three-quarters of nation's states, evidence that companies are feeling more confident in the U.S. economy.
The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate dropped in 39 states in April. That's an improvement from March when 34 states had reported decreases. The rate rose in three states and the District of Columbia. It was unchanged in eight states.
Copyright (c) 2011, Odessa American, Texas
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