Rural Capital Area Unemployment Rate Drops to 10.6% as Region Begins to Reopen Amid COVID-19
Jun 19, 2020
Workforce Solutions Rural Capital Area
CEDAR PARK, Texas ⎯ The unadjusted unemployment rate in the Rural Capital Area of central Texas dropped to 10.6 percent in May 2020, as local communities and employers began to safely reopen amid novel coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns. That’s down from 11.5 percent in April, according to figures released today by the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC). The 10.6 percent unemployment rate in the nine-county Workforce Solutions Rural Capital Area (WSRCA), represented 55,439 residents seeking employment. The region’s unemployment rate remained below both the Texas (12.7 percent)* and national (13.0 percent)* rates.
Within the WSRCA counties, Blanco recorded the lowest unemployment rate at 6.1 percent in May. Fayette County was at 7.0 percent. Lee County was at 7.1 percent. Burnet County was at 7.7 percent, while Llano County was at 8.8 percent. Bastrop County was at 10.3 percent. Williamson County was at 10.8 percent, and Hays County was at 11.7 percent.
To keep our Rural Capital Area community, industries and partnerships informed on the impact of COVID-19 concerns upon our regional workforce, we are providing weekly unemployment claims snapshots on our Rural Capital Area Headlight tool. Review claims by demographics, skills impact, and zip code: https://www.ruralcapitalheadlight.com/weekly-unemp-claims
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 are available 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 eager to help you find workforce solutions in person and will begin a phased reopening of our offices for customers with appointments beginning on Monday, June 22, 2020. Services continue to be available virtually. For more information please visit our website at www.workforcesolutionsrca.com, call us toll free, at 1-844-344-2780, and begin your job search on www.workintexas.com.
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. We are also hosting free virtual career workshops and hiring events to meet the needs of our communities. Visit the events section of our website for the latest schedule.
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.
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.
