Houston Medical Jobs, Education Jobs See Biggest Yearly Increase

As the city's unemployment rate declined and more jobs were added on a monthly basis, Houston medical jobs and education jobs saw the biggest yearly increase in employment last month.

During November, the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown area's unemployment rate decreased from 8.5 percent to 8.2 percent. That places the area's current rate lower than the national unemployment rate of 10 percent.

The Houston area had a total non-farm employment of 2,534,900 workers during November, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is up from 2,525,600 workers during October, but a 3.4 percent decrease from last year.

Six industries saw a monthly increase in employment, including: mining and logging by 300 jobs; trade, transportation and utilities by 10,100 jobs; education and health services by 500 jobs; leisure and hospitality by 700 jobs; other services by 100 jobs; and government by 1,600 jobs.

The education and health services industry saw the biggest increase in employment when compared to last year. The industry employed 295,900 workers during November, up from 295,400 workers during October and a 2.4 percent increase from last year.

Employment in the leisure and hospitality and government industries also increased over the year. The leisure and hospitality industry employed 230,500 workers during November, up from 229,800 workers during October and a 1.1 percent increase from last year. The government industry employed 375,300 workers during November, up from 373,700 workers during October and a 1.7 percent increase from last year.

Once again, the construction industry took the biggest hit when compared to last year. That industry employed 178,500 workers during November, down from 181,200 workers during October and a 12.6 percent decrease from last year.

Other industries that saw an over-the-year decrease in employment include:

• mining and logging by 2.3 percent
• manufacturing by 7.9 percent
• trade, transportation and utilities by 6.3 percent
• information by 5.2 percent
• financial activities by 1.3 percent
• professional and business services by 4.5 percent
• other services by 2.8 percent

City of Phoenix Jobs to Increase Next Year

More City of Phoenix jobs (Click here) will be added early on next year.

The most recent Employment Outlook Survey from Manpower Inc. found that businesses in the Phoenix area will post job gains during Q1 2010. The report found that 16 percent of local companies plan to hire new employees, while 11 percent plan to cut jobs and 71 percent plan to maintain existing staff levels.

"Compared with the previous quarter when 14 percent of companies interviewed intended to add employees, and 18 percent planned to reduce staff levels, area hiring levels appear to be stronger," Manpower Spokesman Joseph Tuerff said.

In addition, the report found that employers are more optimistic than they were in late 2008, when 17 percent planned to increase staff levels and 17 percent planned to decrease staff levels.

The latest labor statistics show that the economy in Phoenix is already starting to improve, despite a climbing unemployment rate.

During October, the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale area saw its unemployment rate increase from 8.6 percent to 8.7 percent, but that rate was still lower than the national unemployment rate at the time of 10.2 percent.

The area had a total non-farm employment of 1,720,900 workers during October, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is up from 1,707,100 workers during September, but a 7.3 percent decrease from last year.

The Manpower report found the best job prospects in the Phoenix area to be in the nondurable goods manufacturing; wholesale; retail; information; financial; and hospitality sectors. The government industry is expected to face the biggest number of job cuts.

The report surveyed a total of more than 28,000 employers. Of those, 12 percent plan to hire new employees from January to March 2010, 12 percent plan to reduce payroll and 73 percent expect to make no staffing changes.

Columbus, Ga., was ranked first in the report, showing the most promising job prospects out of the 201 metropolitan statistical areas that were surveyed. San Juan, Puerto Rico, was ranked as the least promising city for job prospects.

San Diego Construction Jobs, Other Incentives for High-Speed Rail

The idea of bringing a high-speed rail system to California has caused plenty of debate throughout the state, but new figures show such a project could benefit the economy by creating hundreds of thousands of jobs - including San Diego construction jobs and other permanent positions - as well as billions of dollars in revenue.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently submitted a request for funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for high-speed rail. In addition, California voters already approved nearly $10 billion for the project.

"These resources stand to launch us quickly into a period of job creation at a time when we need it the most," Lynn Schenk, a member of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, told The San Diego Union-Tribune.

The San Diego Institute for Policy Research found that a high-speed rail project would create 45,000 San Diego construction jobs alone and 160,000 construction jobs throughout the state. The project would result in 320,000 permanent jobs by 2030 and 450,000 permanent jobs by 2035.

Needless to say, the city could certainly use the additional jobs. During October, the San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos area saw its total non-farm employment decrease by 4 percent when compared to last year, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The area's construction industry employed 65,400 workers during October, down from 66,100 workers during September and a 12.9 percent decrease from last year. As a whole, California's construction industry employed 614,100 workers during October, down from 616,600 workers during September and an 18.2 percent decrease from last year.

In addition, a high-speed rail system would result in more than $1 billion per year in surplus revenues by 2030, accounting for almost three times as much value as the project itself will cost during the next 40 years.

Aside from added jobs and revenue - which could reverse the state's current and impending budget crises - a high speed rail system would provide a quality transportation option for residents. The project would increase safe transportation capacity, provide a significant new option for intercity travel and help strengthen existing city centers by improving accessibility.

And while benefiting residents, the such a project also would benefit the environment. On average, high-speed trains eliminate more than 12 billion pounds of carbon dioxide emissions each year, which is the equivalent of 11 billion miles of travel on California roads by 1 million vehicles. The trains, which run on clean electrical energy, would reduce dependence on foreign oil by up to 12 million barrels per year.