City, state jobless rates keep dropping

Jobless picture Comparing seasonally adjusted unemployment rates for December. Jobless picture Comparing seasonally adjusted unemployment rates for December. Photo: Harry Thomas Photo: Harry Thomas Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close City, state jobless rates keep dropping 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The unemployment rates for the San Antonio area and Texas dropped last month to levels not seen in a while, but some of the more than 2,000 people who were at a local job fair this week weren't convinced the job market is getting better.

“I say it's terrible,” said Teresa Bryant, 53, a San Antonio resident who has been looking for work since losing her job as an office manager in March. “You hear about the economy and how bad it is; but until you're out there looking, you don't realize really how bad it is.”

Bryant was among 2,200 people who descended on the job fair at the Wonderland of Americas mall in Balcones Heights on Wednesday in hopes of landing a job. A similar event held in the same location in summer 2010 drew about 650 people.

The long line of job seekers that stretched through a good part of the mall contrasted sharply with jobless figures released Friday.

The jobless rate for the San Antonio area dipped to 7.1 percent — the lowest since June 2010 when it was 6.9 percent, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. The rate was 7.2 percent last November and 7.6 percent in December 2010.

The seasonally adjusted rate fell despite the San Antonio area losing 2,700 jobs in December. The Fed also reported that San Antonio lost a revised 200 jobs in November. It originally reported the area gained 1,100 jobs in November. Payroll information is compiled with different data than what is used to calculate the unemployment rate.

Texas' unemployment rate, meanwhile, dropped to 7.8 percent in December from 8.1 percent in November and from 8.3 percent in December 2010, the Texas Workforce Commission reported. The national unemployment rate was 8.5 percent last month.

The last time the state's unemployment rate was this low was July 2009, when it also was 7.8 percent.

The unemployment rates are seasonally adjusted to remove the effects of normal seasonal changes, such as holiday hiring.

“Texas continues to see signs of improvement in the labor market,” Texas Workforce Commission Chairman Tom Pauken said in a statement.

The commission's numbers show that the San Antonio area's unadjusted unemployment rate was 6.8 percent in December, down from 7 percent in November and 7.2 percent in December 2010.Wednesday's job fair, sponsored by the San Antonio Express-News, featured a cross-section of employers, including health care companies, oil and gas concerns, trucking companies and financial-services firms.

Green Field Energy Services, for example, needed to fill about 100 positions for a new operation in Pleasanton. It had openings for equipment operators, electronic technicians and logistics and safety personnel. Medtronic Inc., meanwhile, was looking to hire about 75 people for a San Antonio customer-care center that supports its diabetes unit.

Jim Lievens, 50, of Seguin, described his job hunt as “frustrating.” He lost his job as a corporate trainer with a Seguin steel mill in August. He was at Wednesday's fair with former boss Russell Seidenberger, 52, of New Braunfels, who was laid off at the same time.

“For us, with the particular career field we're in, it's probably not as easy” finding a job, Lievens said. “There just aren't as many of those positions out there. But I think there are a lot of jobs out there. Oil field, health care, you see it at this job fair.”

Lievens had worked at the mill for 22 years, while Seidenberger was there 34 years.

“There are jobs out there,” Seidenberger said. “But most of them are not at the salary or pay levels that I would really like to be at. So to find the kind of jobs that we had, it becomes much more difficult.” Both said they have lowered their pay expectations.

Despite their struggles, the pair have managed to keep their sense of humor, particularly when Lievens asked Seidenberger the difference between a recession and a depression.

Seidenberger answered, “The recession is when your buddy loses his job, and the depression is when you lose yours.” Lievens then added, “It's still a depression for us.”

Franchesca Fernandez, 34, of San Antonio, graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2009 with a double major in psychology and sociology. She wants a job helping young people earn their GEDs, but she hasn't been able to find one. So she's now expanded her search to include jobs that will help her build leadership skills.

“My job search has been kind of difficult,” Fernandez said. “The hardest part is kind of finding the right niche. Is this going to work out in the long run?” She's filled out more than 400 applications and been on 50 interviews, she said. She landed a couple of call center jobs, but she said those weren't for her.

John Bucker, 45, plans on retiring from the Air Force in May after 21 years. He was at the job fair trying to get a head start on returning to the civilian workforce.

Buckner wants to become a business analyst and said he's confident he'd be able to find employment.

“I've got a few companies I'm definitely targeting as far as what my interests are — Randolph Brooks Federal Credit Union and Chase,” Buckner. “San Antonio seems pretty robust. The city is attracting new businesses. I'm looking forward to (the job hunt).”