City of Austin Unemployment at a Glance, February 2022

This just in: As the nation experiences strong job gains with COVID cases declining and restrictions eased, the ATX continues to boast one the lowest unemployment rates among the top 25 largest U.S. cities.

• Austin holds the No. 7 spot in the updated February 2022 ranking (in January, Austin was No. 3). Besides February, Austin city has been in the top five each month going back to January 2020.

Based on the latest preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the city of Austin’s unemployment rate remained steady from January to February at 3.2%.

• Ahead of Austin is Seattle (2.5%), Indianapolis (2.9%), Nashville and San Francisco (3.0%), and Jacksonville and San Jose (3.1%).
• Where other Texas cities rank: San Antonio is No. 13 (4.2%), Dallas and Fort Worth are tied for No. 14 (4.4%), El Paso is No. 16 (5.0%), and Houston is No. 17 (5.1%).

Of note: The city’s unemployment rate sat in line with the Austin metro’s rate. The metro rate stayed level at 3.3% from January to February.

Takeaways from the ground: Our booming economy means more opportunities, especially for people with skills. But with more jobs than workers with in-demand skills, our mission to grow Austin’s workforce and talent is more critical than ever.

• To address the short supply of talent for available jobs, Workforce Solutions Capital Area (WFS) operates with a “no worker left behind” mentality of finding and engaging workers, such as our unemployed and underemployed neighbors.
• WFS is invested in growing our workforce. We’re connecting local people to the skills needed for higher-paying careers here in Austin-Travis County.

What else: On April 6 at Manor ISD, Workforce Solutions joined community leaders for an engagement session discussing how we can build up our workforce through expanded training opportunities made possible by investments from the Texas Workforce Commission, Travis County and City of Austin.

• This session was the first in a series to launch and discuss Austin’s new Hire Local Plan with community leaders. We’re looking to hold one in each of our local districts and precincts in partnership with our elected, education, and business leaders. More to come!

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Full list: The top 25 largest U.S. cities with the lowest unemployment rates are:

1. Seattle, WA (2.5)
2. Indianapolis, IN (2.9)
3. [T-3] Nashville, TN (3.0)
4. [T-3] San Francisco, CA (3.0)
5. [T-4] Jacksonville, FL (3.1)
6. [T-4] San Jose, CA (3.1)
7. Austin, TX (3.2)
8. Phoenix, AZ (3.3)
9. Boston, MA (3.5)
10. [T-10] Charlotte, NC (3.8)
11. [T-10] Columbus, OH (3.8)
12. San Diego, CA (3.9)
13. San Antonio, TX (4.2)
14. [T-14] Dallas, TX (4.4)
15. [T-14] Fort Worth, TX (4.4)
16. El Paso, TX (5.0)
17. Houston, TX (5.1)
18. Chicago, IL (5.4)
19. Los Angeles, CA (5.5)
20. [T-20] Memphis, TN (5.6)
21. [T-20] Washington, DC (5.6)
22. Baltimore, MD (6.0)
23. New York, NY (6.6)
24. Philadelphia, PA (6.8)
25. Detroit, MI (12.1)