Texas shed 1,300 jobs in August, ending 10 months of gains
Bernard Weinstein, an economist and associate director of SMU's Maguire Energy Institute, talks about the state of the Texas economy.
By BRENDAN CASE
Staff Writer
The Texas economy hit the brakes in August, as employers cut payrolls for the first time in nearly a year and the unemployment rate rose again.
Data released Friday by the Texas Workforce Commission showed job creation went into reverse last month with a 1,300-job decline, as government job losses more than offset a modest gain in private-sector employment.
It is the first time that state payrolls have declined since September 2010.
The state jobless rate rose to 8.5 percent in August, the third month in a row it has increased. The unemployment rate is at its highest level since June 1987, when the state was mired in an energy, real estate and banking bust.
“We’re in this new period that I like to call the Great Stagnation, and Texas is starting to stagnate just like the rest of the country,” said Bernard Weinstein, an economist at Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business.
# # #