Houston Government Jobs Biggest Yearly Growth, Only Monthly Drop

Although Houston government jobs saw the biggest yearly growth during June, the government industry was the only sector that lost workers over the month.

During June, the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown area's unemployment rate increased from 8.3 percent to 8.8 percent, after falling from 8.4 percent during May. Despite the latest increase, the area's rate is still lower than the national average of 9.5 percent.

The Houston area had a total non-farm employment of 2,526,600 workers during June, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is up from 2,536,000 workers during May and only a .7 percent decrease from last year.

On the positive side, the government industry added the most jobs when compared to last year, increasing by 3.8 percent. However, the industry was the only one that lost jobs on a monthly basis, as the government workforce declined by 12,500 workers. Check out a detailed government job description.

Every other industry added jobs between May and June. The leisure and hospitality industry saw the biggest increase, adding 3,100 jobs over the month, for a total of 242,100 workers.

Other industries that added jobs over the month include:

• Trade, transportation and utilities by 2,600 jobs
• Professional and business services by 2,600 jobs
• Manufacturing by 1,700 jobs
• Mining and logging by 1,200 jobs
• Other services by 1,100 jobs
• Financial services by 400 jobs
• Education and health services by 200 jobs
• Construction by 100 jobs
• Information by 100 jobs

Aside from the government industry, two other industries saw a yearly increase in employment during June. The education and health services industry grew by 3.4 percent to 306,300 jobs, while the mining and logging industry increased by 2.8 percent to 89,100 workers.

The construction industry lost the most workers between June 2009 and June 2010, as the industry's workforce declined by 8.9 percent, for a current total of 167,400 jobs.

Other industries that experienced a yearly decline in employment include: information by 5.7 percent; manufacturing by 2 percent; professional and business services by 2 percent; financial activities by 1.9 percent; trade, transportation and utilities by 1.8 percent; leisure and hospitality by .7 percent; and other services by .2 percent.