Houston's job market is on standard levels once again as jobless claims start to dip

Things are changing, and the claims for unemployment benefits have started dropping nationally, and Texas is no different. In Texas, the total number of people who filed for these benefits reduced by 4,400 compared to the previous week. Many business owners have reported that they do not have enough employees to fill the positions, and thus, people now have more opportunities when it comes to job hunting, which might have led to this drop.

"While the delta variant has sparked a rise in COVID cases, there's scant indication this is translating to a measurable reduction in economic activity in the U.S. So far, suggesting little meaningful impact on employment.." – Mark Hamrick, a senior economic analyst at Bankrate, to the Houston Chronicle.

On the national level, 340,000 people have applied for the first time for unemployment benefits, which is about 14,000 less than the previous week's stats. This is the lowest number of claims ever since March 14 in 2020, when it was 256,000.

"High frequency economic data has suggested states which opted to exit these programs early did not see a hoped-for increase in employment amind a record number of reported job openings," says Mark Hamrick.

In the month of July, 7,100 jobs were lost in Houston, which is a better figure than expected, according to the experts.  

A total of 16,700 education jobs have been lost in Houston this year. However, simultaneously, a gain in jobs in other sectors like manufacturing (+3,700 jobs), professional and business services (+7,500 jobs), cafes, restaurants, and bars (+3,000 jobs), and insurance and finance (+2,000 jobs) have offset the loss in the education sector.