(The Center Square) – Month after month, Texas keeps breaking its own employment records. January was no different, according to employment data published by the Texas Workforce Commission.
Texas broke records for having the greatest number of total jobs, greatest number of Texans working, and greatest size of the state’s labor force in January.
“Hardworking Texans drive America’s most dynamic economy,” Gov. Greg Abbott said. “And with more Texans working than ever before in the history of our great state, we continue to dominate the nation for business expansion. Texas truly is the land of economic freedom, where entrepreneurs and business owners can cast a vision and know they can achieve that vision. With the Best Business Climate and the strongest workforce in America, Texas attracts innovative industry leaders seeking the freedom to grow and the opportunity for their employees to thrive. By cutting red tape and making strategic investments in infrastructure, education, and workforce development, we will build a stronger, more prosperous Texas than ever before.”
The state’s labor market reached new record highs for both jobs and the civilian labor force in January, reaching a total of 14,236,400 nonfarm jobs, according to the data. Over the year, Texas added 187,700 jobs from January 2024 to January 2025, bringing the annual nonfarm growth rate to 1.3 percent.
“With more than 187,000 jobs added over the year, Texas’ continued growth shows the strength of the Texas economy,” TWC Chairman Bryan Daniel said. “Our commitment to a skilled workforce is essential to the state’s continued economic success.”
January marks 55 of 57 months of growth for Texas’ civilian labor force, which achieved another new record high of 15,750,800 people working in the Lone Star State – the highest in state history.
This is up from the record historic high of 15,575,900 in December, The Center Square reported.
Over the month, 23,100 more people were working in Texas; over the year, Texas’ civilian labor force added 351,200 people.
Texas also reached a new high for Texans working, including the self-employed, totaling 15,103,300, also the highest in state history. This is up from the record high of 14,922,200 reported in December.
The Private Education and Health Services industry reported the largest over-the-month increase in January after adding 9,700 jobs; Professional and Business Services added 3,700 jobs over the month; Mining and Logging added 2,300.
“Texas continues to attract new and expanding businesses across a wide range of industries,” TWC Commissioner Representing Employers Joe Esparza said. “We encourage employers to explore TWC programs like the Skills Development Fund, so they can develop their workforce to compete in a global market.”
TWC Commissioner Representing Labor Alberto Treviño III pointed to a variety of programs available at the TWC to respond to diverse needs of job seekers.
The Texas upstream oil and natural gas industry added 2,500 jobs in January, bringing total jobs in the sector to nearly 201,000. The sector includes oil and natural gas extraction and some mining. It excludes refining, petrochemicals, fuels wholesaling, oilfield equipment manufacturing, pipelines, and gas utilities, which support hundreds of thousands of additional jobs.
“As geopolitical circumstances continue to evolve and domestic policy is being examined, the Texas oil and natural gas industry started the year off with positive job growth, which is a reminder of the important role played by this critical industry in providing energy security across the globe,” Texas Oil and Gas Association President Todd Staples said.
Since the COVID-era low point of September 2020, the industry has added 46,400 Texas upstream jobs, averaging a growth of 892 jobs a month. Months with upstream oil and gas employment increases outnumbered those with decreases by 37 to 14, TXOGA notes.
Last year was also a record-breaking year for the Texas oil and natural gas industry across the board, including creating more jobs in the industry than in other states, The Center Square reported.
Texas’ not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 4.1% was for one of the first times in recent history lower than the national rate of 4.4%.
The Midland Metropolitan Statistical Area reported the lowest not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 3% in January, followed by Amarillo’s 3.1% and San Angelo’s at 3.3%. Eagle Pass reported the highest of 8.7%, followed by McAllen-Edinburg-Mission’s 6.2%, and Beaumont-Port Arthur and Brownsville-Harlingen, which both reported 5.4%.
