Austin News

The most recent economic summary for the Austin area from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows the region performing slightly better than the nation as a whole in terms of unemployment, with Austin at 5.1% unemployment in December compared to a national unemployment rate of 6.5%.

In December 2019, the Austin area was also ahead of the nation, with 2.4% unemployment compared to 3.4% nationwide, according to the BLS economic summary. 

There is not much variation between most of the counties comprising the Austin area in terms of unemployment, with the exception of Caldwell County, which had 5.8% unemployment in December. Hays County posted 5.2% unemployment, Travis County posted 5.1% unemployment and Williamson County posted 5% unemployment.

The hardest-hit sectors in the Austin Area were the leisure and hospitality sector, which still had approximately 27,300 fewer jobs in December 2020 compared to December 2019; government, which still had approximately 5,800 fewer jobs; and education and health services, which still had 5,400 fewer jobs. The information sector was down 4,200 jobs in December 2020.

While the information sector had a smaller change than all but leisure and hospitality, it ranked second in terms of the number of lost jobs as a percentage of all jobs in the sector.

While jobs went away, some costs rose as others fell. Between December 2019 and December 2020, the cost for food rose 2.3% for the region of the country including Austin, as energy prices fell 5.6%. That did put local residents in a better position than the average city dweller in the U.S., who saw food costs rise 3.9% in that period.

However, the average city dweller also saw energy costs fall 7%.