The works
San Antonio job market ranks No. 9 in the U.S. with return to pre-pandemic numbers
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to hammer job markets around the country. But the Alamo City is faring well, clocking in among nine other major metros in the U.S. that have surpassed the number of jobs they had before the pandemic.
According to a recent report from the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce that covers the top 50 U.S. metros, from February 2020 to November 2021, the San Antonio area posted a job growth rate of 1.3 percent, giving it a ninth-place ranking on the jobs list of the best-performing markets.
From a year-over-year perspective, however, San Antonio drops out of the top 10, ranking 20th, with a 4.7 increase in jobs from November 2020 to November 2021.
Nearby Austin, which has seen steady growth from an influx of businesses in the past year, landed at No. 2 on the jobs list of the best-performing markets among the top 50 metros, posting a job growth rate of 4.11 percent from February 2020 to November 2021, slightly below the 4.14 percent rate for the No. 1 rated Salt Lake City area, according to the chamber’s report.
Year over year, Austin was also the second-best-performing job market among the top 50 metros for the month of November, following only Las Vegas.
“Austin has made up all of 2020’s pandemic-related job losses and currently has 47,000 more jobs than it had in February 2020,” the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce recently reported.
In November alone, the Austin area added 11,800 jobs, following a gain of 21,000 jobs the previous month, the chamber says.
For February 2020 to November 2021, here are the job growth rates for Texas’ other major metro areas, according to the Austin chamber:
- Dallas-Plano-Irving — 4.1 percent, fourth-place ranking among the 50 biggest metro areas.
- Fort Worth-Arlington — 2.2 percent, fifth-place ranking among the 50 biggest metro areas.
- Houston — negative 2 percent, 27th-place ranking among the 50 biggest metro areas.
Despite Houston’s job market not having rebounded to its pre-pandemic level, job website Indeed recently ranked Houston one of the best U.S. cities for recent graduates seeking employment. Indeed cited opportunities in Houston sectors such as aerospace, aviation, and digital technology.
