Workers in U.S. state of Texas still suffering from recession

Texas workers' confidence in the future declined in September compared with the previous month, according to the latest employment report released by Spherion Staffing Services on Friday.

Spherion is a leading recruiting and staffing provider that specializes in placing administrative, clerical, customer service and light industrial candidates in temporary and full-time opportunities. Its monthly employment report provides a snapshot of the latest workforce trends across the country and is issued in conjunction with state and national labor market releases.

The latest monthly Texas Employee Confidence Index, based on the report, dropped 3.1 points, from 53.7 in August to 50.6 in September.

"More workers were voicing concerns about their ability to find a new job and the security of their current positions," said Kim Lockhart, regional vice president for Spherion Staffing Services in Texas.

The latest Spherion report found that Texas workers surveyed in September were split in their belief on whether the economy is getting weaker or stronger, with 34 percent indicating that the economy is getting weaker comparing to 30 percent reporting increasing strength, Spherion said on its website.

It also found that fewer Texas workers were confident they could find a new job -- 43 percent in September compared with 54 percent in August.

About half of all Texas workers -- 51 percent -- thought it unlikely they would look for a new job in the next 12 months, down from 60 percent in August.

Meanwhile, 69 percent of workers in September thought they were unlikely to lose their jobs, compared with 80 percent in the previous month.

"Until we see some definitive evidence of job growth and corporate confidence, we are likely to see our index bump around a bit in the months to come," Lockhart said.

Also on Friday, new statistics released by the Texas Workforce Commission show Texas' seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 8.2 percent in September, as against 8 percent in August.

"The Texas job market continued to tighten as most industries experienced job losses in September," said Texas Workforce Commission Chairman Tom Pauken. "While unemployment in Texas remains well below the national rate of 9.8 percent, this serious national recession continues to affect us adversely in Texas."

The state lost 44,700 nonfarm jobs in September. The largest job losses occurred in the leisure and hospitality industry, which was down 16,900 positions.

September is typically a month where the local economy gains jobs as school bus drivers, cafeteria workers and custodians rejoin the work force.

Some industry analysts believe that these data show the state economy may be actually worsening and that the pace of layoffs is accelerating.

Source: Xinhua