HOUSTON-The Bureau of Labor Statistics' recent economic report covering the Houston area notes that unemployment in the greater metro region was 6.2% in October, 2012 (the latest information available). That number is significantly less than the 7.7% the region experienced as of October, 2011.
The BLS compared the stats to the national unemployment figure in October, 2012, which was 7.5% (down from 8.5%, year over year). Montgomery County, on the northern edge of the metro area, reported unemployment at 5.6%. On the other end of the spectrum, Galveston County's unemployment stood at 6.9%.
Though the unemployment stats present good news, there was a slight uptick in prices paid by urban consumers (CPI-U) for various categories. Houstonians are paying approximately 1.4% more for all items than last year (compared to the national year-over-year growth of 2.2%). What was striking about the BLS' stats, however, is that Houstonians saw a sharp decrease of close to 5% in annual spending on energy. The U.S., as a whole, is paying 4% more for energy than it was a year ago.
© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more inforrmation visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
