According to the Texas Workforce Commission, the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos MSA gained 3,800 jobs last month lowering the unemployment rate by 10 basis points from last month to 7.2%, down from its peak of 7.6% in January 2010. The growth is considered to be seasonal. The largest contributors to job growth were the Professional and Business Services (1,300 jobs), Education and Health Services (900 jobs), and the Mining, Logging, and Construction (700 jobs) sectors. No sector reported a net job loss. The total number of non-agricultural employment in the MSA grew to 769,200 indicating a relatively strong annual growth rate of 2.5% making Austin the strongest performing Metro out of the 50 largest MSAs in the nation. Finally, Austin's unemployment rate of 7.2% is still below the state (8.4%) and the national (9.5%) unemployment rates.
