Texas adds 20,000 jobs in December, but unemployment rate still rises

Texas employers expanded payrolls by 20,000 jobs in December, but the state unemployment rate edged up to 8.3 percent from 8.2 percent the month before, the Texas
Workforce Commission said Friday.

Brendan Case has the story: http://dallasne.ws/hIfzdW

Jobless benefits: 285,000 Texans face cutoff

This winter, unless something changes soon, about as many jobless Texans will lose their federal unemployment insurance extensions as live in Plano or Corpus Christi.
http://dallasne.ws/eWPjH2

Dallas-area jobless pull belts even tighter as unemployment benefits expire

Extended unemployment benefits are set to run out this week for 17,000 laid-off workers in North Texas, curtailing biweekly payments that have kept many in their homes and casting a pall as the holidays approach. Unless Congress solves a partisan deadlock, by Jan. 1 about 35,000 people in Dallas, Collin, Denton and Tarrant counties will lose their federally paid benefits.
Bob Garrett and Brendan Case report: http://dallasne.ws/eQ4rn0

Texas adds almost 48,000 jobs in October, but jobless rate stays at 8.1 percent

Texas employers expanded payrolls by 47,900 jobs in October, the most since May, but the state jobless rate remained unchanged at 8.1 percent, the Texas Workforce Commission said Friday. The October jobs gain followed three consecutive months of falling payrolls. A preliminary gain of 3,700 jobs in September was revised to a loss of 7,600, according to data released Friday. The state also lost jobs in July and August.


Brendan Case: http://dallasne.ws/9Jy3bt

Texas likely to lead nation in economic growth, researchers forecast

AUSTIN – Texas lost hundreds of thousands of jobs last year as it stumbled through the deep national recession. But the state is likely to shine as the nation's economic growth leader over the next decade, according to research and forecasting firm IHS Global Insight.

Brendan Case reports: http://dallasne.ws/bu5mc3

End of Census leaves Texas with fewer jobs for 2nd straight month

Brendan Case reports: Texas employers cut payrolls by 34,200 jobs in August, as many temporary jobs with the 2010 Census ended, the Texas Workforce Commission said Friday. The state unemployment rate edged up to 8.3 percent from 8.2 percent in July.
http://dallasne.ws/aXFqTC