The Rio Grande Valley, and the state, saw a significant increase in their unemployment rates last month.
The Texas Workforce Commission’s September unemployment report shows the jobless rate in the Brownsville-Harlingen metro area jumped 1.8% up to 11.1%. It shot up 1.9% in the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission area to 12.8%.
Statewide after three consecutive months of declines, unemployment last month rose 1.5% to 8.3%. Employers continued to add jobs, but analysts say the civilian labor force shrunk as fewer Texans were looking for work. Most of the job gains were in the Leisure and Hospitality sector while most of the jobs lost came in the Financial sector.
