Department of Numbers

Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Houston fell 0.1 percentage points in January 2023 to 4.2%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.3 percentage points higher than the Texas rate. The unemployment rate in Houston peaked in April 2020 at 13.6% and is now 9.4 percentage points lower. You can also compare Houston unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate January 2023 Month/Month Year/Year
National 3.4% -0.1 -0.6
Texas 3.9% +0.1 -0.4
Houston 4.2% -0.1 -1.2
Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.1 All comparisons are made with January 2023 data as February metro level unemployment data has not yet been released.

Unemployment Rate: Houston, Texas, National

Houston, Texas monthly unemployment rate chart

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

Houston, Texas Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in Houston peaked in May 2020 at 446,535. There are now 296,811 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. Houston employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Houston, Texas) is also available.

Unemployed Persons January 2023 Month/Month Year/Year
Houston 149,724 -1,446 -36,133

Number of Unemployed Persons

Houston, Texas Unemployment History

Date National
Unemployment Rate
Texas
Unemployment Rate
Houston
Unemployment Rate
Houston
Unemployed
February
2023
3.6%
January
2023
3.4% 3.9% 4.2% 149,724
December
2022
3.5% 3.8% 4.3% 151,170
November
2022
3.6% 3.8% 4.3% 153,092
October
2022
3.7% 3.9% 4.4% 154,713
September
2022
3.5% 3.8% 4.4% 155,382
August
2022
3.7% 3.7% 4.5% 157,372
July
2022
3.5% 3.8% 4.5% 158,623
June
2022
3.6% 3.8% 4.6% 160,500
May
2022
3.6% 3.8% 4.7% 163,394
April
2022
3.6% 3.8% 4.8% 167,445
March
2022
3.6% 3.9% 5.0% 173,599

1. Metro area unemployment rates are now seasonally adjusted. The BLS has started publishing smoothed seasonally adjusted metropolitan area data which makes comparisons to state and national data more relevant than the unadjusted numbers.