April 2nd, 2012
San Marcos unemployment at 5.4 percent, Kyle at 4.8

STAFF REPORT

The unemployment rate in San Marcos stood at 5.4 percent in February, a modest .4 percentage point decrease from the same month in 2011 and better than the state unemployment rate of 7.1 percent.

The local economy picked up 255 jobs between January and February, according to Texas Workforce Commission data, with total employment of 24,079. The total number of San Marcos residents who reported themselves unemployed fell from 1,458 to 1,363 since the first of the calendar year.

The city has gained 585 jobs between February 2011 and February 2012. The Workforce Commission does not collect data on income and other characteristics of the local job market.

Meanwhile, Hays County has a whole gained 850 jobs between January and February and its unemployment rate fell from 6.5 percent to 5.9 percent during that period. The county’s unemployment rate was 6.9 percent in February 2011.

Kyle is enjoying an exceptionally low unemployment rate of 4.8 percent with 648 of its 13,540 labor force reportedly out of work. The number of jobs in Kyle grew from 12,755 in January to 12,892 in February.

San Marcos monthly unemployment rates (not seasonally adjusted):

	2011 San Marcos	2012 San Marcos	% diff from same month last year
January	6.1 percent	5.8 percent		0.3%
February	5.8 percent	5.4 percent		0.4%
March	5.5 percent
April	5.2 percent
May	5.2 percent
June	6.6 percent
July	6.4 percent
August	6.0 percent
September	5.9 percent
October	5.5 percent
November	5.1 percent
December	5 percent

SOURCE: Texas Workforce Commission