Jobless rate falls to 3.1 percent in Gonzales County

The unemployment rate in Gonzales County dipped yet again, dropping in November 2023 by 0.2 percent to 3.1 percent, according to state Labor Market Information (LMI) figures released by the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC).

Gonzales saw its labor force increase by 122 workers from 9,411 in October 2023 to 9,533 in October; the number of employed workers rose by 141 from 9,100 to 9,241 and the number filing jobless claims dropped from 311 to 292, a difference of 19.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Labor reported there were 199,000 non-farm jobs added nationally in November. The national unemployment rate edged down to 3.7 percent.

For the state of Texas, unemployment fell from 3.8 percent in October 2023 to 3.5 percent in November 2023, as the number of unemployed people seeking benefits dropped from 578,221 to 535,371. The number of employed Texans increased from 14,605,438 to 14,741,751.

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 November 2023 was 3.2 percent, a drop of 0.3 percent from the 3.5 percent recorded in October 2023. This represented a total of 2,991 residents in Gonzales, Calhoun, DeWitt, Goliad, Jackson, Lavaca and Victoria counties seeking employment out of a total workforce of 92,984 people. There were 820 more people in the workforce and a total of 248 fewer people filed jobless claims in the Golden Crescent area while 1,068 jobs were added.

The counties in the Golden Crescent with the lowest unemployment rate were Lavaca County at 2.8 percent, followed by Calhoun County at 2.9 percent, Jackson County and DeWtt Counties at 3.0 percent,  Gonzales and Goliad counties at 3.1 percent and Victoria County bringing up the rear at 3.5 percent.

Unemployment rates since November 2021 for Gonzales County are:

• 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.

• November 2023, 3.1 percent