Unemployment rates fell in nine major metro areas in Texas in March, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
The biggest decreases were in Brownsville-Harlingen and El Paso, where unemployment rates dropped by 0.5% in each area. In Brownsville-Harlingen, unemployment dropped from 9.5% to 9%, while El Paso dropped from 8.1% to 7.6%.
In McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, unemployment fell 0.4% from 10.2% to 9.8%. In the remaining six cites, unemployment dropped by 0.3%.
Laredo fell from 6.4% to 6.1%, Austin-Round Rock fell from 4.8% to 4.5%, Dallas-Plano-Irving fell from 5.8% to 5.5%, Ft. Worth-Arlington and Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land fell from 5.7% to 5.4% and San Antonio fell from 5.5% to 5.2%.
The state of Texas added 8,300 jobs in March, down from the 33,100 that were added in February. During the first three months of 2014, Texas has added 67,290 jobs.
