Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Houston fell 0.1 percentage points in July 2019 to 3.6%. 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 8.6% and is now 5.0 percentage points lower. You can also compare Houston unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate	July 2019	Month/Month	Year/Year
National	3.7%	0.0	-0.2
Texas	3.4%	0.0	-0.4
Houston	3.6%	-0.1	-0.6

Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.¹ All comparisons are made with July 2019 data as August 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 247,725. There are now 122,930 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. Houston employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Houston, Texas) is also available.

Unemployed Persons	July 2019	Month/Month	Year/Year
Houston	124,795	-2,192	-17,172

Number of Unemployed Persons

Houston, Texas Unemployment History

Date	National Unemployment Rate	Texas Unemployment Rate	Houston Unemployment Rate	Houston Unemployed
September 2019	3.5%	—	—	—
August 2019	3.7%	3.4%	—	—
July 2019	3.7%	3.4%	3.6%	124,795
June 2019	3.7%	3.4%	3.7%	126,987
May 2019	3.6%	3.5%	3.8%	130,879
April 2019	3.6%	3.7%	4.0%	135,995
March 2019	3.8%	3.8%	4.1%	139,820
February 2019	3.8%	3.8%	4.1%	141,581
January 2019	4.0%	3.8%	4.1%	140,922
December 2018	3.9%	3.7%	4.1%	139,252
November 2018	3.7%	3.7%	4.1%	138,896
October 2018	3.8%	3.7%	4.1%	138,322