U.S. payrolls in December showed that national job growth was the weakest it’s been in five years, yet state data shows that through the fall the Texas labor market continued on a modest growth trajectory even as its labor market has been cooling.
The state gained a net of 7,300 nonfarm jobs in November, according to a report released Friday by the Texas Workforce Commission, and recorded a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 4.2%.
The Lone Star State figures arrived as federal jobs data reiterated that the national labor market has remained resilient but largely stagnant. Employers across the country added a slim 50,000 jobs in December, and just under 600,000 for all of 2025, according to the Labor Department.
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While no report was available for October because of the federal government shutdown, the November data from the TWC suggests that ― after roaring for years ― Texas’ economic growth has slowed. Still, the state still remains better positioned than the overall U.S. economy. In September, Texas added 4,600 nonfarm positions.
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The November report put the state’s year-over-year nonfarm jobs growth rate at 1.0%, according to the TWC — above the corresponding national rate of 0.6% but also well below Texas’ recent annual growth rates.
“Historically, the Texas economy grows around 2%,” Luis Torres, a senior economist at the San Antonio branch of the Dallas Fed, told The Dallas Morning News in the fall, after the bank had forecast a 1.3% state jobs growth rate for 2025.
“We’re not entering a recession, we’re not losing jobs. It’s still a good number, but you’re below trend.”
The new TWC data showed that the state’s labor force also continued to grow in November, with Texas counting a record of around 16 million workers, an addition of more than 200,000 compared to November 2024.
The D-FW Metroplex, with 4.6 million workers, represented the largest worker pool among Texas metro areas, outpacing greater Houston by more than a half million workers. D-FW’s labor force expanded by around 60,000 workers compared to November 2024.
Large jobs gains in the state came from the private education and health services industry, which added 5,700 jobs compared to October; professional and business services, which added 3,900; and the manufacturing sector, which added 2,300.
Significant job losses came from trade, transportation and utilities, which dropped 2,500 positions; mining and logging, which lost 1,800; and leisure and hospitality and government, which both lost 600.
Amarillo and Midland notched the state’s lowest unemployment rates, the TWC report noted, while Eagle Pass and Brownsville-Harlingen recorded the highest.
The new state data comes soon after an analysis by The News projected that North Texas will continue adding health care and data-related jobs at a fast clip, while the jobs that will be most abundant over the next several years include more entry-level positions like fast food workers and grocery stockers.