Houston job growth jumps by almost 100,000

Construction crews work to finish The River Oaks apartment building at 3433 Westheimer Road on June 22, 2016 in Houston. Construction crews work to finish The River Oaks apartment building at 3433 Westheimer Road on June 22, 2016 in Houston. Photo: Michael Ciaglo, Staff Photo: Michael Ciaglo, Staff Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Houston job growth jumps by almost 100,000 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

Nearly 97,000 additional people had jobs in the Houston area in July, compared to same month a year ago, dropping the region’s unemployment rate to 4.4 percent, according to new estimates by the Texas Workforce Commission.

The improvement outpaced the state’s job growth, officials said.

“Thanks to the innovation and expansion by employers in a wide range of industries, Texans continue to be offered more opportunities to demonstrate their first-class skills and start a career,” said workforce commission chairwoman Ruth Ruggero Hughs, in a news release.

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Among the state’s five largest metro areas, Houston continued to post the highest unemployment with more than 150,400 people out of work. That, however, is an improvement from July 2017 when 168,700 were jobless, according to workforce commission numbers.

From June, Houston’s non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped from 4.6 percent to 4.4 percent in July.

Statewide, the mining and construction industries continued to drive job growth.