May 2010
The Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown Metropolitan Statistical Area added 14,800 jobs in March, one of the best month-to-month job performances since November ’08. Furthermore, the March job growth is on par with Houston’s historical performance over the past 10 years, notes Ron Borski, labor market analyst with Workforce Solutions.

Of the 11 supersectors tracked by the Texas Workforce Commission, only two—construction and information—showed job losses in March, albeit small ones (500 and 100 jobs, respectively). The biggest employment gains occurred in leisure and hospitality (5,700 jobs); trade, transportation and utilities (4,300 jobs); government (1,500 jobs); and professional and business services (1,200 jobs).

For the 12 months ending March ’10, the Houston MSA lost 60,200 jobs, a
considerable improvement over the prior month, when the region’s 12-month job loss was 77,900. As recently as December, Houston’s 12-month loss exceeded 100,000 jobs. GHP’s employment forecast calls for over-the-year losses to continue through late summer, turning positive in the fourth quarter.

Greater Houston Partnership

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