Jobless rate falls to 3.3 percent in Gonzales County

The unemployment rate in Gonzales County dipped yet again, dropping in October 2023 by 0.2 percent to 3.3 percent, according to state Labor Market Information (LMI) figures released by the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC).

Gonzales saw its labor force decrease by 189 workers from 9,607 in September 2023 to 9,418 in October; however, the number of employed workers only dropped by 161 from 9,268 to 9,107 and the number filing jobless claims dropped from 339 to 311, a difference of 28.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Labor reported there were 150,000 non-farm jobs added nationally in October, below the average monthly gain of 258,000 over the prior 12 months. In October, job gains occurred in health care, government, and social assistance. Employment in manufacturing declined due to strike activity. The national unemployment rate remained steady at 3.9 percent.

For the state of Texas, unemployment fell from 4.1 percent in September 2023 to 3.8 percent in October 2023, as the number of unemployed people seeking benefits dropped from 620,012 to 578,529. The number of employed Texans increased from 14,558,101 to 14,605,351.

Gonzales County did not have either the lowest or highest jobless rate of the seven counties which comprise the Golden Crescent Workforce Development Area.

For the entire Golden Crescent Workforce Development Area, the unemployment rate for October 2023 was 3.5 percent, a drop of 0.3 percent from the 3.8 percent recorded in September 2023. This represented a total of 3,245 residents in Gonzales, Calhoun, DeWitt, Goliad, Jackson, Lavaca and Victoria counties seeking employment out of a total workforce of 92,194 people. There were 735 fewer people in the workforce and a total of 246 fewer people filed jobless claims in the Golden Crescent area while nearly 489 jobs were added.

The counties in the Golden Crescent with the lowest unemployment rate were Calhoun County at 3.0 percent, followed by Jackson County at 3.1 percent, Lavaca County at 3.12 percent, Gonzales and DeWitt counties at 3.3 percent, Goliad County at 3.4 percent and Victoria County bringing up the rear at 3.9 percent.

Unemployment rates since October 2021 for Gonzales County are:

• October 2021, 3.6 percent.

• November 2021, 3.5 percent

• December 2021, 3.2 percent

• January 2022, 3.6 percent

• February 2022, 3.4 percent

• March 2022, 2.7 percent.

• April 2022, 2.6 percent.

• May 2022, 2.9 percent.

• June 2022, 3.5 percent.

• July 2022, 3.2 percent.

• August 2022, 3.2 percent.

• September 2022, 3.1 percent.

• October 2022, 3.1 percent.

• November 2022, 3.1 percent

• December 2022, 2.7 percent.

• January 2023, 3.7 percent.

• February 2023, 4.0 percent.

• March 2023, 3.5 percent.

• April 2023, 3.2 percent.

• May 2023, 3.5 percent.

• June 2023, 3.7 percent.

• July 2023, 4.0 percent.

• August 2023, 4.0 percent.

• September 2023, 3.5 percent.

• October 2023, 3.3 percent.