As of December 2022, 45 of the top 50 metropolitan areas in the United States have regained their pre-pandemic level of jobs, according to the Austin Chamber of Commerce. In the Chamber’s latest CenTex Economy Report, Austin ranks as the second best performing major metro in the nation, relative to pre-pandemic 2020. Other Texas cities on that list include, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio.
Austin made up for all of its pandemic-related job losses by May 2021.
When looking at the 12 months ending in December 2022, Austin added 50,900 — a growth of 4.2 percent, making it the 18th best performing major metro among the nation’s top 50. Following November’s peak of 153,700 jobs, the leisure and hospitality sector reported a loss of roughly 2800 workers for December.
Texas saw net private sector job growth of 5.6% with all private industry sectors adding jobs over the last 12 months. Total job growth was 4.9% as the government sector, which accounts for 15.5% of total state employment, grew by only 1.1%.
