Unemployment Rate by Industry
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
Crop & Animal Production
Mining & Oil & Gas Extraction
CORPUS CHRISTI LABOR MARKET
Utilities
18
South Texas
Construction
Manufacturing
Corpus Christi
Wholesale Trade
Retail Trade
Transportation & Warehousing
Information
Finance & Insurance
Real Estate & Rental & Leasing
Professional, Scientific & Technical Services
Management of Companies & Enterprises
Administrative & Support
Educational Services
Health Care & Social Assistance
Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation
Unemployment
is not evenly
distributed
across
industries. . .
Accommodation & Food Services
Other Services
Government
Corpus Christi Average
Source: EMSI, 2015Q4.
In 2015, the average unemployment rate was 5 percent for the Corpus Christi metro
area. For the 41-county region of South Texas, the average unemployment rate was
higher at 6 percent. Unemployment is not evenly distributed across industries, so it
would be instructive to identify the soft spots in the labor markets.
A breakdown of unemployment by industry in 2015 clearly shows the impact of the
recent oil market collapses on the regional labor markets. Nearly one in five people
previously working in South Texas’s oil fields were unemployed. The manufacturing
sector also had relatively more workers claiming unemployment due in part to recent
layoffs among equipment suppliers for oil operators. On the contrary, employees in the
service industries tended to be less likely to become unemployed.
Annual Review of South Texas Economy