Texas had a good long run of unemployment that rode at or below the national average — 10 years, to be exact, as the Lone Star State rode out the housing bust and entered an oil boom.

That period of superiority came to a close last November. And after a few months of bouncing around, March's employment data showed that the U.S. opened up a half-point lead, as my colleague L.M. Sixel noted on Friday.

(Houston's unemployment rate, of course, surged above the national average last May, as oil layoffs reached their apex.)

However, that's just one, very limited way of looking at the labor market.

In another way of looking at it, both Houston and Texas' job growth rate has surged ahead of the U.S. in recent months. That suggests that spiking unemployment rates may be a response to more job listings; the unemployment rate doesn't capture those who have stopped looking for work.

Moreover, the gains seem to be powered in part by a recovering manufacturing sector, which closely tracks the health of the economy, according to the Dallas Federal Reserve.

All in all, the trajectory is more promising for Texas than unemployment numbers on their own would suggest.