While Unemployment Rates Rose In November 2020, Hopkins County Still Had The Lowest Jobless Rate In The Area

While unemployment rates rose in November 2020, Hopkins County still had the lowest jobless rate in the 9-county Northeast Texas Workforce Development Area last month, according to the civilian labor force estimates released this month by TWC, produced in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, and posted on the Texas Labor Market Information website,.

Hopkins County’s unemployment rate rose from 4.7 percent in October 2020 to 5.8 percent in November 2020, with 999 out of 17,211 unemployed in November 2020. Last month’s unemployment rate in Hopkins County was 2.8 percent higher than that of November 2019, when 522 of 17,607 were unemployed (2.8 percent).

November 2020’s 5.8 percent unemployment rate is the third highest unemployment rate this year, behind only the 8.4 percent reported in April 2020 and 7.8 percent reported in May, when many businesses had to shut down or reduce labor forces due to regulations imposed because of COVID-19. Those followed a 2.8 percent unemployment rate in December of 2019, and unemployment rates of 3.2 percent in January and February of 2020 and 4.5 percent in March 2020.

Hopkins County wasn’t the only county in the region that experienced an increased unemployment rate. Unemployment was up in all nine counties in the Northeast Texas Work Force Development Area and was up as a whole across the state as well, according to the employment estimates released earlier this month.

The Texas unemployment rate for November was 8.1 percent, up from 6.9 percent in October 2020.

Around the NET WDA the unemployment rate was 7.5 percent with 9,423 of the 125,011 civilian labor force (CLF) unemployed in November 2020.

Delta County came in behind Hopkins County with a 6.4 percent unemployment rate in November 2020, with 153 of the 2,398 CLF unemployed. That’s 1.4 percent higher than in October 2020, and 3 percent higher than in November 2019.

Nearby Franklin County had a 6.8 percent unemployment rate for November 2020, up from 5 percent in October 2020 and 3.4 percent in November 2019.

Lamar County had a 6.9 percent unemployment rate in November 2020, up from 5.7 percent in October 2020 and 3.3 percent in November 2019.

Morris County continued to have the highest unemployment rate in the area. Morris County’s unemployment rate rose from 12.3 percent in October 2020, to 14.9 percent in November 2020. In November 2019, Morris County’s unemployment rate was only 5.4 percent,.

Cass County had the next highest unemployment rate of 9.4 percent in November 2020, that’s up from 7.7 percent last month. Just one year ago, the unemployment rate was 4.1 percent in November.

Also around the WDA area, Bowie County’s unemployment rate rose from 6.1 percent in October to 7.3 percent in November, which is 3.3 percent higher than in November 2019.

Red River County’s unemployment rate of 7.6 percent for November 2020 was 3.2 percent more than in November 2019 and 1.4 percent more than was reported in October 2020.

Rounding out the Northeast Texas Workforce Development Area is Titus County, with an unemployment rate of 7.6 percent. That’s a 1.3 percent higher unemployment rate than in October 2020 and 3.7 percent more than in November 2019.

These and other state labor and market statistics can be found at https://texaslmi.com/