Texas gains half as many jobs in January as thought

Texas gained half as many jobs in January as reported last week, the Texas Workforce Commission said Tuesday, citing technical problems with the transfer of data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

 

The state actually gained 14,800 jobs in January, not the 30,300 reported on Friday, the Workforce Commission said.

 

The biggest difference between the revised numbers and the set announced last week was in professional and business services, which includes a large amount of temporary hiring. That segment added 4,200 jobs in January, not the 20,900 reported last week, the Workforce Commission said.

 

“It’s a whole different set of data than what they sent us on Friday,” Ann Hatchitt, a Workforce Commission spokeswoman, said.

 

The Texas jobless rate remained 8.2 percent in January, the same as for December. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for January 2009 was 6.4 percent.

 

The Bureau of Labor Statistics and Workforce Commission also last week released an annual batch of revised data showing Texas lost 78,000 more jobs in 2009 than estimated earlier.

 

Here's an industry breakdown on what happened with Texas jobs in January.

 

- Scott Nishimura, jobs and workplace reporter, Star-Telegram