Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Houston fell 0.1 percentage points in October 2018 to 3.9%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.2 percentage points higher than the Texas rate. The unemployment rate in Houston peaked in December 2009 at 8.5% and is now 4.6 percentage points lower. You can also compare Houston unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate	October 2018	Month/Month	Year/Year
National	3.7%	0.0	-0.4
Texas	3.7%	-0.1	-0.2
Houston	3.9%	-0.1	-0.7

Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.¹ All comparisons are made with October 2018 data as November metro level unemployment data has not yet been released.

Unemployment Rate: Houston, Texas, National

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

Houston, Texas Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in Houston peaked in March 2010 at 249,550. There are now 114,690 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. Houston employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Houston, Texas) is also available.

Unemployed Persons	October 2018	Month/Month	Year/Year
Houston	134,860	-2,923	-17,662

Number of Unemployed Persons

Houston, Texas Unemployment History

Date	National Unemployment Rate	Texas Unemployment Rate	Houston Unemployment Rate	Houston Unemployed
November 2018	3.7%	—	—	—
October 2018	3.7%	3.7%	3.9%	134,860
September 2018	3.7%	3.8%	4.0%	137,783
August 2018	3.9%	3.9%	4.1%	138,138
July 2018	3.9%	4.0%	4.1%	139,727
June 2018	4.0%	4.0%	4.3%	147,135
May 2018	3.8%	4.1%	4.4%	151,225
April 2018	3.9%	4.1%	4.6%	157,500
March 2018	4.1%	4.0%	4.7%	159,062
February 2018	4.1%	4.0%	4.7%	157,926
January 2018	4.1%	4.0%	4.6%	154,999
December 2017	4.1%	4.0%	4.6%	152,708