The pandemic took an enormous toll on many small businesses when shutdowns were ordered in 2020. Since then, the recovery for Austin has been slow and steady, and now, well into 2022, the economic outlook is far brighter.
By May 2021, Austin made up for all of its 2020 pandemic-related job losses. According to the Austin Chamber of Commerce, there are now 58,100 more jobs in the city than there were in February 2020 prior to the shutdowns. However, the leisure and hospitality sector remains 8700 workers, or 6.5 percent, below February 2020. Despite the lag within leisure and hospitality, significant gains have been made nevertheless.
“In Austin, all 11 major private industry sectors added jobs over the last 12 months, most notably leisure and hospitality (19.2% or 20,200 jobs), information (16.0% or 6,600 jobs), professional and business services (15.5% or 33,400), and wholesale trade (10.5% or 4,700),” the Austin Chamber says in its new CenTex Economy Report.
Austin now ranks as the best-performing major job market since the beginning of the pandemic, and 6th-best over the past year.
The Texas Workforce Commission’s latest jobs report for January shows Austin’s unemployment rate taking a slight turn upward to 3.3 percent compared to 2.9 percent in December.
