Collin County Unemployment

An article by Danny Gallagher in the McKinney Courier-Gazette recently reported some bad news about the unemployment rate increase in June this year.  The article reported as follows:

It would seem that the U.S. Legislature picked the perfect time to reinstate those unemployment checks. Unemployment rates for Collin County rose by almost one-half of a percentage point for the month of June from 7.5 to 7.9 percent, mirroring the same rate increases for 2009, according to data tabulated by the Texas Force Commission.

Collin County also had 8 percent unemployment in June of 2009, but by a much higher increase from May of 7.3, according to tabulated data. The state, however, faired much better with their unemployment rate.  Texas’ rate dropped to 8.2 percent for June, which is “well below the U.S. seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 9.5 percent for the same month (last year),” the TWC said in a released statement.

‘Texas employment has grown every month in 2010,” TWC Chairman Tom Pauken said.  “Notably, Texas employers in good producing industries added jobs in the month of June, which included gains in manufacturing, construction and mining and logging.”

Such a small decrease, however, does not paint a perfect economic picture for the state, TWC Commissioner Representing Labor Ronny Congleton said. “While I am encouraged by the decrease in the Texas unemployment rate, times are tough for Texas workers and their families,”  Congleton said.  “Job seekers should turn to WorkInTexas.com and our workforce centers across Texas for re-employment and support services.”

TWC officials also announced that unemployment benefits have been extended into November, thanks to recent federal legislation that allows “long-term claimants to continue receiving unemployment benefits.” The 150,000 unemployment claimants who exhausted their previous benefits to the last deadline can now file new claims under the new deadline. “The TWC has been advising claimants to continue requesting payments, so they now can receive payments for weeks since the last expiration date,” according to a released statement.