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Ask CEOs, entrepreneurs, educators and researchers why the Austin region has stayed hot through more than two decades of business trends and you’ll hear one common theme—workforce. It’s all about people, and Austin’s supply of unmatched employee talent is certainly no accident. Our labor pool is among the most energetic, innovative, and educated in the world. Here, the best and the brightest lead many diverse business sectors. And you’ll find like minds coming every day to join them—whether it’s from outside our area or through one of the largest talent pipelines in the country—the University of Texas at Austin.
Spreadsheet version of data on this page (xls)

Labor Force, Employment & Unemployment
Labor Force, Employment & Unemployment, 2007
  Labor force Employment Unemployment
Number Rate
Austin MSA 847,633 816,853 30,780 3.6%
Bastrop Co. 35,115 33,687 1,428 4.1%
Caldwell Co. 16,341 15,634 707 4.3%
Hays Co. 71,618 68,949 2,669 3.7%
Travis Co. 530,410 511,562 18,848 3.6%
Williamson Co. 194,149 187,021 7,128 3.7%
Unemployment Rates
  2004 2005 2006 2007
Austin MSA 5.1% 4.5% 4.2% 3.6%
Texas 6.0% 5.4% 4.9% 4.3%
U.S. 5.5% 5.1% 4.6% 4.6%
Employment, Austin MSA
Employment Growth
Note: Time series of annual and monthly numbers for these and additional workforce indicators are updated monthly on the Chamber's Economic Indicators page.
Source: Texas Workforce Commission.
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Employment by Industry
Employment by Industry, Austin MSA
  2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Total non-farm 653,000 667,400 692,200 723,200 757,300
Construction, natural
resources, & mining 		37,400 37,700 40,200 44,600 48,600
Manufacturing 57,700 57,400 57,300 58,900 60,000
Wholesale trade 33,700 35,400 37,400 38,500 41,200
Retail trade 67,800 69,100 72,700 76,300 81,100
Transportation, warehousing,
& utilities 		10,600 11,000 11,700 12,600 13,400
Information 20,800 20,500 21,500 21,800 21,900
Financial activities 39,500 40,000 41,200 43,300 45,000
Professional & business services 85,600 89,100 94,100 99,600 106,700
Educational & health Services 66,000 68,400 71,100 73,800 76,600
Leisure & hospitality 63,800 67,100 69,700 74,300 78,400
Other services 24,500 26,000 26,500 27,700 28,200
Government 145,600 145,800 148,900 152,000 156,300
Employment by Industry 2007
Note: Time series of annual and monthly numbers for these and additional workforce indicators are updated monthly on the Chamber's Economic Indicators page.
Source: Texas Workforce Commission.
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Employment by Occupation
Employment by Occupation 2006
  Austin MSA
Total, all occupations 781,743
Management, professional & related occupations 31,7687
....Management, business & financial operations 129,326
.........Management occupations 86,357
.........Business & financial operations 42,969
....Professional & related occupations 188,361
.........Computer & mathematical 38,482
.........Architecture & engineering 25,964
.........Life, physical, & social science 5,634
.........Community & social services 9,620
.........Legal 13,203
.........Education, training, & library 46,861
.........Arts, design, entertainment, sports & media 21,439
.........Healthcare practitioners & technical 27,158
Service occupations 120,605
....Healthcare support 11,165
....Protective service 11,232
....Food preparation & serving related 46,813
....Building and grounds cleaning & maintenance 30,831
....Personal care & service 20,564
Sales & office occupations 202,374
....Sales & related occupations 92,102
....Office & administrative support 110,272
Farming, fishing, & forestry occupations 1,279
Construction, extraction, & maintenance occupations 82,733
....Construction & extraction 60,558
....Installation, maintenance & repair 22,175
Production, transportation & material moving occupations 57,065
....Production 27,791
....Transportation & material moving 29,274
Employment by Occupation 2006
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census.
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Average Occupational Hourly Wages & Annual Salaries 2007
Austin MSA United States Austin/
U.S.
Wage Salary Wage Salary
All occupations $19.87 $43,330 $19.56 $40,590 102
Management 47.26 98,290 46.22 96,150 102
Business & financial operations 29.20 60,730 30.01 62,410 97
Computer & mathematical 35.95 74,780 34.71 72,190 104
Architecture & engineering 32.67 67,960 33.11 68,880 99
Life, physical, & social science 29.02 60,350 29.82 62,020 97
Community & social services 18.50 38,480 19.49 40,540 95
Legal 38.96 81,040 42.53 88,450 92
Education, training, & library 20.72 42,170 22.41 46,610 90
Arts, design, entertainment, sports & media 24.21 50,360 23.71 48,410 104
Healthcare practitioners & technical 30.65 63,750 31.26 65,020 98
Healthcare support 11.73 24,390 12.31 25,600 95
Protective service 16.95 35,250 18.63 38,750 91
Food preparation & serving related 8.74 18,180 9.35 19,444 93
Building & grounds cleaning & maintenance 9.76 20,300 11.33 23,560 86
Personal care & service 9.90 20,580 11.53 23,980 86
Sales & related 16.97 35,300 16.94 35,240 100
Office & administrative support 15.02 31,240 15.00 31,200 100
Farming, fishing & forestry 9.64 20,060 10.89 22,640 89
Construction & extraction 14.71 30,600 19.53 40,620 75
Installation, maintenance & repair 17.88 37,200 19.20 39,930 93
Production 14.02 29,160 15.02 31,310 93
Transportation & material moving 12.51 26,020 14.75 30,680 85
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) .
Note: Wage and salary estimates for detailed occupations are also available from the OES wage survey. (Nearly 500 unique occupations are reported for Austin.) The BLS also publishes an alternative occupational wage survey, called the National Compensation Survey, for Austin and other metropolitan areas that provides additional types of compensation measures.
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Union Membership
  Employed workers who are union members Employed workers who are covered by a collective bargaining agreement
Austin MSA Texas U.S. Austin MSA Texas U.S.
2007
Total 3.0% 4.7% 12.1% 3.5% 5.7% 13.3%
Private 1.3% 2.7% 7.5% 1.7% 3.3% 8.2%
Priv, Mfg NA 5.2% 11.3% NA 5.7% 12.0%
Public 10.2% 15.2% 35.9% 11.3% 18.5% 39.8%
1997
Total 2.9% 6.4% 14.1% 3.3% 7.8% 15.6%
Private 0.8% 4.2% 9.7% 0.8% 5.1% 10.6%
Priv, Mfg NA 9.5% 16.3% NA 10.3% 17.2%
Public 9.8% 18.2% 37.2% 11.4% 21.9% 42.3%
Source: Barry T. Hirsch & David A. Macpherson, Union Membership & Coverage Database from the Current Population Survey.
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Workers' Compensation & Unemployment Insurance Program Costs
  Avg WC benefits per $100 of covered wages, 2005 Avg UI employer tax rate as a % of total wages, 2007 Avg UI employer tax rate as a % of taxable wages, 2007
Arizona 0.58% 0.36% 1.50%
California 1.59% 0.91% 4.49%
Colorado 1.03% 0.49% 1.73%
Georgia 0.83% 0.38% 1.54%
Illinois 0.98% 1.13% 4.42%
Massachusetts 0.58% 1.19% 4.21%
New York 0.68% 0.60% 3.50%
North Carolina 1.06% 0.74% 1.66%
Texas 0.55% 0.46% 1.86%
Utah 0.68% 0.49% 0.85%
Washington 1.72% 1.22% 2.04%
United States 1.06% 0.73% 2.56%
Sources: National Academy of Social Insurance and U.S. Employment and Training Administration.
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