By Shelley Kofler, KERA News
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Dallas, TX – The unemployment rates for the state remained at 8.2 percent in March. It dropped slightly in North Texas to 8.3 percent. But some area cities are faring better than others, as KERA's Shelley Kofler reports.
Dallas has a jobless rate well above the state average. It's 8.8 percent in Big D, Cedar Park and Grand Prairie. Unemployment is higher still in Duncanville and in double digits in Lancaster where it's 10.9 percent.
North Texas employment appears strongest in Coppell, Denton and Flower Mound where the jobless rate is below 7 percent.
Statewide Texas added some jobs last month though unemployment claims also increased.
The hospitality industry including hotels and food service made the most hires.
Education, healthcare and government added workers. So did manufacturing, mining and logging which have suffered big losses.
But the picture remained dismal for those in construction, transportation and utilities, as well as for workers providing financial, insurance and business services. Those Texas employers continued to cut their workforces in March.