Unemployment drops in Gonzales County

Unemployment in Gonzales County was down from 3.9 percent to 3.8 percent in September 2021, the lowest rate of all seven counties which comprise the Golden Crescent Workforce Development Area, according to state Labor Market Information (LMI) figures released by the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC).

The 3.8 percent unadjusted unemployment rate was also the lowest seen in Gonzales County since it was just 2.8 percent in February 2020 — one month before the beginning of COVID-19 shutdowns in the state of Texas.

For the entire Golden Crescent Workforce Development Area, the unemployment rate for September 2021 was 5.0 percent, or just barely above the state average of 4.9 percent. This represented a total of 4,487 residents in Gonzales, Calhoun, DeWitt, Goliad, Jackson, Lavaca and Victoria counties seeking employment out of a total workforce of 90,493 people.

After Gonzales County, Lavaca County recorded the lowest unemployment at 4.2 percent, followedd by DeWitt County at 4.4 percent. Calhoun and Jackson counties are both at 4.5 percent, while Goliad and Victoria counties logged in at 5.7 percent, respectively.

For September 2021, there were 367 individuals in Gonzales County seeking employment out of a workforce of 9,725, with 9,358 reported as employed. In August 2021, there were 374 people seeking work in Gonzales County out of an employment force of 9,678 for a total unemployment rate of 3.9 percent.
In September 2020, Gonzales County had an unemployment rate of 5.9 percent as 564 individuals were seeking work out of a labor force of 9,637, so in the past year, Gonzales County has seen the number of unemployed individuals decrease even as the size of the labor force grew.

Unemployment rates since January 2020 for Gonzales County are:
• January 2020, 3.0 percent.

• February 2020, 2.8 percent.

• March 2020, 4.0 percent.

• April 2020, 6.7 percent.

• May 2020, 7.8 percent.

• June 2020, 7.1 percent.

• July 2020, 6.8 percent.

• August 2020, 4.8 percent.

• September 2020, 5.9 percent.

• October 2020, 5.3 percent.

• November 2020, 5.7 percent.

• December 2020, 5.2 percent.

• January 2021, 5.6 percent.

• February 2021, 5.7 percent.

• March 2021, 5.4 percent.

• April 2021, 4.7 percent.

• May 2021, 4.5 percent.

• June 2021, 5.1 percent.

• July 2021, 4.3 percent.

The Workforce Solutions Golden Crescent Board serves as the governing board for the regional workforce system, a network of service providers and contractors that brings people and jobs together in the seven-county Golden Crescent region.

The Golden Crescent Region is less than two hours from the major cities of Houston, San Antonio, Austin and Corpus Christi and has a population of 183,000. Of the counties, Victoria County is the largest and has a population of 85,648 and is located in the center of the region. There are a total of eight One-Stop Workforce Centers in the Golden Crescent Region, serving the following counties: Calhoun, DeWitt, Goliad, Gonzales, Jackson, Lavaca, and Victoria.