The Austin-Round Rock Metropolitan Statistical Area has one of the lowest unemployment rates in Texas, according to a jobs report published by the Texas Workforce Commission. With a 3.2 unemployment rate for April 2017, the Austin-Round Rock MSA had the second lowest unemployment rate for the month.

The rate is a .3 percent increase from April 2016 but down nearly a half-percent from the month prior.

The downward dip in unemployment results from an influx of 30,400 jobs to the Texas economy during the month of April. The manufacturing industry produced 8,100 of those jobs, and professional and business services added 7,400 jobs. Education and health services sectors added 10,400 jobs, recording the greatest gain in private industry for the month.

Texas Workforce Commission Chair Andres Alcantar said 10 of the 11 industries at work in the Texas economy had grown in the last year, totaling 258,900 jobs, 33,500 of those were added to the Austin-Round Rock metro.

“This sustained increase in job creation provides more opportunities for Texas employers to expand, which helps increase opportunity for all Texans,” said TWC Commissioner Representing Employers Ruth Hughs in a statement. “TWC is committed to developing workforce programs that keep our businesses competitive and our growing talent pipeline a priority.”

Julian Alvarez, the Commissioner Representing Labor for the state workforce commission, said the economic growth gives a positive outlook for the future of the Texas economy, including even greater employment opportunities as the workforce expands. However, Texas’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remains unaffected at 5.0 percent despite recent growth.

3 questions to help understand the job report:


1. What is an MSE?

An MSE, or metropolitan statistical area, is a geographical division created by the United States Office of Management and Budget for use in census data and urban population calculations. They tend to center around densely populated urban areas and often follow town or county borders.

2. What does 'seasonally adjusted' mean?

Unemployment rates can shift on a seasonal cycle. In order to see cause and effect trends based on job creation rather than the time of year, the TWC analyzes seasonal trends and uses statistical analyses to essentially ignore any changes that aren’t directly tied to job creation.

3. What is the private industry?

The private industry is any industry run by an organization or individual rather than the government.