Local jobless rate down to 6.1 percent
September 23, 2009
The August unemployment rate for the Abilene metro area dipped to 6.1 percent, down slightly after three months of increases to historically high levels that peaked at 6.3 percent in July.
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However, the Texas jobs picture failed to build momentum. In July, the Texas Workforce Commission touted an increase in jobs, the first such increase since October 2008.
But Texas shed 62,200 positions in August — the most of any state, said Peter Summers, an assistant professor of economics at Texas Tech University, although he said that as a percentage of employment, the decrease did not rank among the nation’s worst.