By Bill Zeeble, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-849962.mp3
Dallas, TX –
For the 8th consecutive month, the Texas unemployment rate has risen, and the figure for North Texas is even higher than the statewide number. That trend's expected to continue.
The statewide unemployment rate rose from 7.1 percent in May to 7.5 percent in June, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. That's the highest it's been in more than a decade. Even worse, the North Texas unemployment number has jumped more than 3 whole points in a year, up to 8.2 percent. Professor Michael Davis teaches economics at SMU.
SMU's Economics Professor, Doctor Mike Davis: The fact that local numbers went up isn't good, but put that in context that all numbers went up all over country and it's not a happy story. Wherever we are in the business cycle we're not anywhere close to the end of the bad times. The recession apparently is not over.
Texas lost more than 40 thousand jobs last month. The only sector to add jobs were Education and Health Services.