The Austin area jobless rate fell to 6.8 percent last month as the city added 9,300 jobs from February, the Texas Workforce Commission reported on Friday.
Trade, transportation and utilities and leisure and hospitality were the biggest gainers month-to-month, with each sector swelling by 2,400 positions between February and March. Professional and business services also added about 2,100 positions, and government added 1,100. All other sectors reported smaller gains, except for the information industry, which lost 200 jobs.
The Austin – Round Rock – San Marcos region supported a total 777,600 jobs last month.
Year-over-year, the city gained 13,900 jobs. Professional and business services gained the most positions in the 12-month period ending in March with about 4,100 more jobs. Trade, transportation and utilities followed close behind with 3,800 more positions in March compared with the same month in 2010. Education and health services also reported a significant 3,700 job gain year over year.
Mining, logging and construction was down year over year, losing about 1,300 jobs since last March. Information and financial sectors were also down by 100 and 200 positions respectively.
Statewide, the unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent last month from 8.2 percent in February. The national average decreased to 9.2 percent from 9.5 percent in March.
Read more: Austin adds 9,300 jobs in March; unemployment falls to 6.8% | Austin Business Journal