Many analyst watching Texas unemployment had shown a glimmer of hope when job gains were posted in January. However, a loss of 13,000 jobs in February erased January’s meager gains. Currently, many of Texas’ employers are implementing job losses and Texas’ unemployment rate remains stagnant at 8.2 percent as of February.
“The Texas unemployment rate remained at 8.2 percent for the fourth month in a row,” said Texas Workforce Commission Chairman Tom Pauken. “Although this serious national recession continues to have a negative impact here in Texas, the unemployment rate appears to have stabilized.”
But is it that the unemployment rate has stabilized or that many Texans have given up on finding work? Studies has show that many long-term unemployed workers eventually give up on finding jobs or take part-time or temporary work when it becomes available. This recession as sent many of Texas’ unemployed several steps back in their careers and have created financial devastation statewide. When unemployed workers are unable to find new comparable work, they can’t pay their mortgage, credit card bills or other debts they have incurred. Foreclosures and bankruptcies are the end result. Currently, one of the leading causes of foreclosure is unemployment. And unemployment can also be counted as one of the leading causes of a totally saturated housing market. Too many houses and too few buyers available to purchase those houses is the root of the problem. As we mentioned previously, about the new short sell program, you still need buyers regardless of what program you use to sell these homes. And right now we don’t have many buyers and one of the biggest reasons is the continued state of high unemployment.