More than 5,000 residents in the eight ZIP codes that make up Community Impact Newspaper’s Conroe-Montgomery coverage area filed for unemployment insurance between April 8-May 9, an 18% decrease from previous data, according to data from the Texas Workforce Commission.

The commission released a new interactive mapping tool in late April, which breaks down unemployment insurance claims at the ZIP code level. According to the data, 5,135 unemployment insurance claimants live in the Conroe and Montgomery area, which accounts for roughly 2.67% of the area's 192,407 population. According to the data, ZIP code 77304 had the most claimants, with 964 residents filing for benefits. ZIP code 77306 had the lowest number of claimants at 325.

Here are the number of unemployment insurance claimants for Conroe- and Montgomery-area ZIP codes per May 11 data as well as population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

• 77301: 905 UI claimants of a population of 36,857
• 77302: 556 UI claimants of a population of 19,800
• 77303: 506 UI claimants of a population of 21,432
• 77304: 964 UI claimants of a population of 30,517
• 77306: 325 UI claimants of a population of 13,190
• 77316: 665 UI claimants of a population of 26,690
• 77318: 455 UI claimants of a population of 16,000
• 77356: 759 UI claimants of a population of 27,921

Montgomery County overall has seen a similar trend in unemployment insurance claims filed over recent one-month periods. From April 8-May 9, 15,592 claims were filed in the county while 22,397 were filed from March 18-April 18. The five industries with the most claims in the count include full-service restaurants, oil and gas support operations, oil and gas field machinery and equipment, elementary and secondary schools, and offices of physicians excluding mental health. While the number of claims appears to be decreasing, the county's total weekly claim counts remain far higher than figures reported last year. During the week of May 9, 2019, 210 claims were filed countywide, while more than 2,600 claims were filed during the week of May 9, 2020. From the weeks of March 28 through May 9, 1,495 unemployment claims were filed in Montgomery County in 2019, while 28,623 claims were filed in 2020—a more than 1,800% year-over-year increase. To file for unemployment insurance with the TWC, click here or call 800-939-6631.