Austin’s jobless rate rises in January

AUSTIN – The Austin area unemployment rate increased in January to 5.8 percent, up from 5 percent posted in December. As usual with preliminary workforce data, experts urged caution about reading too much into any single month.

During the month, Austin had roughly 56,400 workers who didn’t have jobs but were looking for one, an increase of 14.9 percent from December.

The rise is attributed to retailers scaling back payrolls after the holiday shopping season, and broader cuts across most industries,
The Texas Workforce Commission reports that local companies pared nearly 1.5 percent of their workforce during January.

Texas’ jobless rate slightly rose to 6.3 percent in January, and the U.S. unemployment rate increased to 7.9 percent.

Read more at the Austin American-Statesman. For all Texas areas, see the Texas Workforce Commission’s monthly report.