COVID-19 Concerns Drive up Rural Capital Area Unemployment Rate to 11.5% in April
May 22, 2020
Workforce Solutions Rural Capital Area
CEDAR PARK, Texas ⎯ The unadjusted unemployment rate in the Rural Capital Area of central Texas rose to 11.5 percent in April 2020 amid novel coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns, up from 4.0 percent in March, according to figures released today by the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC). The 11.5 percent unemployment rate in the nine-county Workforce Solutions Rural Capital Area (WSRCA), represented 58,157 residents seeking employment. The region’s unemployment rate remained below both the Texas (13.0 percent)* and national (14.4 percent)* rates.
Within the WSRCA counties, Blanco recorded the lowest unemployment rate at 6.8 percent in April. Fayette County was at 7.1 percent. Lee County was at 7.2 percent. Burnet County was at 8.9 percent, while Llano County was at 9.4 percent. Bastrop County was at 10.7 percent. Williamson County was at 11.8 percent, and Hays County was at 12.8 percent.
As Governor Greg Abbott has declared a state of disaster in Texas due to COVID-19, and our communities continue to feel the increased impact of its global effects, the WSRCA team has mobilized to ensure the health and safety of customers and staff, while ensuring that our business services, early childhood development programs and workforce services, continue throughout our Rural Capital Area communities.
“We know this is a difficult time for our Rural Capital Area families and businesses, but we’re committed to empowering our world-class workforce as our Texas economy reopens,” said WSRCA CEO Paul Fletcher. “Our talented workforce and child care services teams have moved online to ensure immediate accessibility for our communities, and we are ready and eager to help people transition back to employment. We are reaching out to people and welcome their reaching out to us, to ensure they get the assistance they need to make that transition and find sustainable workforce solutions.”
The WSRCA team is driven to ensure that the health and safety of our customers and staff are taken into consideration in these difficult times. Although our career centers are temporarily closed to the public, our teams will continue to ensure that our customers find workforce solutions through our available services online and by phone. Please visit our website at www.workforcesolutionsrca.com, login in to www.workintexas.com, or call us toll free, at 1-844-344-2780.
As local employers within our nine-county region contact us with job openings they need to fill immediately, we are posting them to the Jobs Now! section of our website by county, to connect job seekers to these opportunities.
For our business community, we have set up the email address, rapidresponse@ruralcapital.net, to connect employers with a Rapid Response specialist, for assistance with customized proactive outplacement services or layoff aversion strategies at no cost. Our Rapid Response services are tailored to each company, based on the needs of the affected employees.
WSRCA has joined with our partners at Texas Operation Welcome Home, the Texas Veterans Commission and the American Legion - Department of Texas, to host a Memorial Day Veterans Virtual Career Expo on Wednesday, May 27, 2020, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Veterans, transitioning military, and spouses, register today to virtually connect with military-friendly recruiters from multiple local companies, eager to hire our nation's heroes. Learn about their exciting career opportunities in the Rural Capital Area and take part in free virtual career-enhancement workshops right from your own computer, or mobile device. All job seekers welcome. Pre-register to attend: bit.ly/wsrcavirtualcareerexpo. Employers, free recruiting booths are available: https://ruralcapitalarea.getyourbooth.com/.
Employment estimates released by TWC are produced in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. All estimates are subject to revision. To access this and more employment data, visit texaslmi.com.
Workforce Solutions Rural Capital Area is a nonprofit community partnership providing no cost recruitment, employment services and childcare assistance, to businesses, employers, and job seekers in the Rural Capital Area of central Texas. This nine-county region includes Bastrop; Blanco; Burnet; Caldwell; Fayette; Hays; Lee; Llano; and Williamson counties. For more details on WSRCA, and the services it offers, visit www.workforcesolutionsrca.com.
*All unemployment rates listed are not seasonally adjusted.
