Economic troubles spread South: Unemployment numbers up

Last week the Houston Business Journal reported that unemployment is up to 6.5% in the Houston area:

According to the report released Thursday, 183,000 people in the area were without jobs in January — an unemployment rate of 6.5 percent — compared with 155,700, or 5.6 percent, in December 2008.

While this is an indication that the country’s economic troubles are spreading South – an area that has fared much better than other hard hit parts of the country – our unemployment rate remains significantly below the nation’s 8.1% average. This rise can be attributed in part to the lower crude oil prices as of late (around $40/barrel). The silver lining in this story is that oil prices have been increasing and appear to be in an upward trend as we head toward the summer. Higher oil prices mean more available projects for oil and oil services companies and they in turn will amp up their hiring to get them completed. We will be closely monitoring the data in the months to come so stay tuned for that.