Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Houston fell 0.0 percentage points in February 2018 to 4.6%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.6 percentage points higher than the Texas rate. The unemployment rate in Houston peaked in December 2009 at 8.5% and is now 3.9 percentage points lower. From a post peak low of 4.4% in January 2015, the unemployment rate has now grown by 0.2 percentage points. You can also compare Houston unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate	February 2018	Month/Month	Year/Year
National	4.1%	0.0	-0.6
Texas	4.0%	0.0	-0.7
Houston	4.6%	0.0	-1.3

Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.¹ All comparisons are made with February 2018 data as March 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 249,727. There are now 93,269 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. From a recent trough of 143,414 in February 2015, the number of unemployed has now grown by 13,044. Houston employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Houston, Texas) is also available.

Unemployed Persons	February 2018	Month/Month	Year/Year
Houston	156,458	+990	-38,599

Number of Unemployed Persons

Houston, Texas Unemployment History

Date	National Unemployment Rate	Texas Unemployment Rate	Houston Unemployment Rate	Houston Unemployed
March 2018	4.1%	—	—	—
February 2018	4.1%	4.0%	4.6%	156,458
January 2018	4.1%	4.0%	4.6%	155,468
December 2017	4.1%	4.0%	4.6%	151,998
November 2017	4.1%	3.9%	4.4%	146,602
October 2017	4.1%	3.9%	4.4%	144,002
September 2017	4.2%	4.0%	4.8%	158,825
August 2017	4.4%	4.0%	4.8%	160,453
July 2017	4.3%	4.1%	4.6%	152,987
June 2017	4.3%	4.2%	5.0%	167,047
May 2017	4.3%	4.4%	5.4%	178,081
April 2017	4.4%	4.5%	5.7%	190,016