Valley Unemployment Lower In September For Third Straight Month

Story by TIM SULLIVAN

For the third straight month, unemployment in the Rio Grande Valley has gone down.

In September in the Brownsville-Harlingen area, the jobless rate declined .3% to 5.3%. In the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission metro area, unemployment dropped .5% to 5.9%. And for the first time in decades, that is not the highest in the state. The Beaumont-Port Arthur area recorded a 6 percent unemployment rate last month.

Statewide, the unemployment rate held steady for the third consecutive month at 4.1%.

The September Texas Worforce Commission report also shows there was hiring in 8 of the 11 industries the agency measures. The largest numbers of new jobs were in Professional and Business Services and in the Education and Health Services sector. Overall last month, the state added 29,200 jobs.