Work in Progress
Finding Work Online
Job seekers are increasingly pounding the keyboard, not the pavement, to look for jobs online via sites like Monster.com and Craigslist.org. Employers are also going online to post openings for workers.
Some 52 million Americans have hit the Internet in search of a job, according to the Pew Internet Project.
Susan P. Joyce is editor of Job-Hunt.org, an online employment portal with links to employers and career resources. Online job postings have helped automate the process of tracking applicants for employers, she says.
“It has made the process of collecting resumes easier,” Joyce says. “Post the job opportunities on the employers’ Web sites and collect the resumes. If their recruiters have the technical search skills, ‘mine’ the Internet for appropriate candidates. The problem is finding that proverbial needle in the haystack – that well-qualified applicant in the ocean of other applicants. Technology, personal networking and luck all play important roles.”
The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) launched WorkInTexas.com, an online employment and recruiting system, in June 2004. More than 40 percent of Texas employers are registered to post jobs on the site, and as of December 2007, more than 92,458 positions were available for job seekers.
WorkInTexas.com features dedicated home pages for employers and job seekers, résumé-building tools, e-mail notification of potential job matches, streamlined access to state government and teacher applications, career tools and recruitment resources.
Lone Star State outperforms nation in job growth
If you’re looking for a job, you stand a good chance of finding one in Texas. Texas employers led the nation in job growth last year, adding 218,600 jobs from December 2006 to December 2007. Florida posted a distant second, adding 85,800 jobs and California third, with 78,800 jobs, for the same time period.
Texas’ job gains in 2007 reflected an annual growth rate of 2.1 percent, more than double the national growth rate of 1 percent. Texas also led the nation in job growth for the month of December, adding 18,600 jobs.
“Texas employers finished 2007 at a vibrant pace,” says former Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) Chair Diane Rath. “The state’s annual job growth rate leads the nation’s by a ratio of more than 2-to-1.”
Bucking the Trend
Texas’ strong 2007 job growth bucked national trends. Nationally, falling home prices and tightening credit have spurred economists to predict a possible recession in 2008.
Revised data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas shows the state’s job growth stronger than initially reported over the past year.
“Employment increased 3.4 percent in 2006, slightly above the average for the past 35 years,” says Fiona Sigalla, an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, in a September/October 2007 report on the regional economy. “This year, job growth has been close to its long-term trend and more than double the U.S. rate of 1.8 percent,” Sigalla says in the report.
As of January 2008, the Dallas and Houston metros are still leading the nation in absolute job gains, says Aaron H. Jodka, real estate economist with Property & Portfolio Research Inc., a national real estate research firm. Houston has added over 97,000 jobs, and Dallas has added over 84,000 jobs year-over-year as of January 2008.
Based on re-benchmarked data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Houston actually gained far more jobs than initially thought, as did Dallas, Jodka says. “This is the third year in a row that these markets have seen marked upward job revisions,” Jodka says. “So while the nation is certainly slowing, and we feel is on the verge of recession, the Texas employment picture is far brighter. With continued strong energy markets and well above average job and population growth, Texas appears to be one of, if not the strongest job markets in the country.”
Mining and Professional Jobs Lead
TWC tracks employment growth by industry; all are assigned codes through the U.S. Census Bureau’s North American Industry Classification System (NAICS). Natural resources and mining led Texas industries with the highest job growth rate, adding 14,800 jobs from December 2006 to December 2007 for an annual job growth rate of 7.6 percent. Jobs in professional and business services posted the second highest gains, adding 59,000 jobs over the year at an annual growth rate of 4.7 percent, according to TWC. The leisure and hospitality sector added 2,200 positions in December 2007, gained 37,900 jobs over the year and posted an annual job growth rate of 3.9 percent.
Future Jobs
According to the Comptroller’s 2008-09 Certification Revenue Estimate released in November 2007, growth in professional and business services should remain solid at 4.3 percent during the 2008-09 biennium. Key sectors supporting this growth will include management services, support services for the energy industry and computer systems and other scientific services.
Construction jobs, including rebuilding after damage caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, spurred Texas’ job growth in 2006-07, according to the Comptroller’s report. Job growth in the construction industry is expected to soften in 2008-09 in response to tighter mortgage lending standards and fewer housing starts. All but one major industry, manufacturing, is expected to add jobs over the biennium, according to the report. A general economic slowdown is expected to cause the manufacturing sector to lose jobs at an average of 0.6 percent per year. Overall, state and national unemployment rates are likely to trend upward during 2008-09, with Texas averaging 4.8 percent unemployment compared with 4.9 percent nationally.
For more information on Texas’ job forecast and economic outlook, review the Comptroller’s 2008-09 Certification Revenue Estimate. For more information on employment statistics, contact TWC at (866) 938-4444 or direct in Austin at 491-4922. FN
Growing Texas Jobs
The state’s natural resources and mining and professional and business services sectors posted the highest job growth rate of 11 industry sectors from December 2006 to December 2007.
| Industry sector | December 2006 Employment (in thousands) |
December 2007 Employment (in thousands) |
Percent change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural Resources and Mining | 194.2 | 209.0 | 7.6% |
| Professional and Business Services | 1,249.8 | 1,308.8 | 4.7% |
| Leisure and Hospitality | 963.8 | 1,001.7 | 3.9% |
| Financial Activities | 631.2 | 652.1 | 3.3% |
| Education and Health Services | 1,233.7 | 1,262.8 | 2.4% |
| Construction | 615.9 | 628.8 | 2.1% |
| Trade, Transportation and Utilities | 2,052.1 | 2,078.3 | 1.3% |
| Other Services | 348.5 | 352.8 | 1.2% |
| Manufacturing | 933.7 | 927.4 | -0.7% |
Source: Texas Workforce Commission, Labor Market and Career Information Department.