The month of February was another strong one for Austin as 58,800 jobs were added to local payrolls, according to the Austin Chamber of Commerce. In its latest CenTex Economy Report, the Chamber says Austin saw growth of 4.8% for February, making it the sixth-best performing metro among the top 50 in the nation over the past 12 months.
“Combining job losses for March and April 2020, Austin lost 137,200 jobs, or 12.0%, due to the impact of COVID-19,” the report says. “By April 2021, Austin surpassed the jobs total it had in the last pre-pandemic month. Since March 2022, Austin appears to be at or above the level of employment that might have been projected had there been no pandemic. In 2018 and 2019, the average monthly percent change in nonfarm payroll jobs was 0.33%.”
The fastest job growth over the past 12 months has been in the leisure and hospitality sector, followed by wholesale trade industries.
Austin’s unemployment rate went to 3.3% in February, up from January’s 2.9%
