According to data from the Texas Workforce Commission, 23,462 people in seven Katy-area ZIP codes have filed an unemployment insurance claim between March 18-April 18 during the coronvairus pandemic.

That is approximately 5% of 498,864 Katy-area residents, the total population among the seven ZIP codes, according to the TWC data that was updated April 27. This is roughly 47 people per 1,000 in the Katy area.

Of the 23,462 Katy-area claims, roughly 76% of them, or 17,760, were determined monetarily eligible for unemployment benefits.

TWC did not provide ZIP code-level data from a previous time period to compare.

Katy-area ZIP code 77449 with its 6,604 claims has the highest number of unemployment claims received by the TWC across all 1,712 Texas ZIP codes with population data available. However, when considering the number of claims per 1,000 people, ZIP code 77449 drops to No. 69.



For the overall Greater Houston area, Patrick Jankowski, senior vice president of research for the Greater Houston Partnership, said he estimates 407,237 unemployment insurance claims have been filed in the Greater Houston area from March 1-April 25.

While that number does not quite reflect the true number of jobs lost, it represents a significant increase over the 27,012 claims made during the same time frame in 2019.

These numbers are expected to rise over time as nearly every industry in the metropolitan area is facing a downturn due to the coronavirus pandemic, Jankowski said.

For those looking for a job, the TWC has a platform listing hundreds of thousands of jobs at www.workintexas.com/vosnet/Default.aspx.

TWC said April 15 the agency paid out $183 million in unemployment benefits April 13 to roughly 137,000 residents. Texans may be eligible to receive benefits if they have been laid off or furloughed or had their hours reduced.

Residents who qualify for unemployment can apply at the Texas Workforce Commission website. The agency has also expanded its call center staffing and hours. The lines are now open seven days a week from 7 a.m.-7 p.m.