The unemployment rate in Hopkins County declined slightly in May 2021, as did the overall employment rate across Northeast Texas and the state, according to Texas Labor Market Index and Texas Workforce Commission.
Workforce
Development
AreaMay 2021
RateApril 2021
RateMay 2020
RateTexas 5.9 6.4 11.8 North East Texas 5.9 6.2 9.2 Bowie 6.0 6.3 10.6 Cass 7.1 7.6 9.6 Delta 5.3 5.0 7.4 Franklin 4.7 5.2 6.9 Hopkins 4.5 4.8 6.9 Lamar 5.8 6.1 8.9 Morris 10.5 11.4 11.9 Red River 6.2 6.5 7.9 Titus 5.4 5.7 8.5
Hopkins County had a 4.5 percent unemployment rate in 2021, 0.3 percent lower than in April 2021 and 2.4 percent lower than in May of 2021. That’s 797 of the 17,597 labor force who were unemployed during the month of May. In April 2021, a total of 838 individuals out of a labor force of 17,536 were reported to be unemployed. In May 2020, the 6.9 percent unemployment rate represented 1,146 of the 16,715 labor force of Hopkins County who were not employed. That means that the labor force in Hopkins County has grown, so too has the number of people employed.
In Texas, the unemployment rate fell from 6.4 percent in April 2021 to 5.9 percent in May 2021, down from 11.8 percent in May 2020. The Texas seasonally adjusted rate of 6.5 for May 2021 was 0.2 percent lower than in April 2021. That’s 829,251 unemployed Texans in May 2021, down from 897,924 in April 2021 and 1,592,840 in May 2020.
The US unemployment rate, although a bit lower than Texas’ rate overall, also declined from 6.1 percent in April 2021 to 5.8 percent in May 2021, down from 13.3 percent in May 2020, according to the TLMI.
| County | May 2021 | April 2021 | May 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hopkins | 4.5 | 4.8 | 6.9 |
| Gonzales | 4.5 | 4.7 | 7.8 |
| Guadalupe | 4.5 | 4.8 | 10.9 |
| Lynn | 4.5 | 4.5 | 8.0 |
| Rockwall | 4.5 | 4.8 | 9.7 |
| Wilson | 4.5 | 4.7 | 8.9 |
Unemployment Rate
Over the last year, Hopkins County has, on average, had the lowest unemployment rate among all nine counties in the Northeast Texas Workforce Development Area. Franklin County had the next lowest rate of 4.7 percent, down from 5.2 percent in April 2021 and 6.9 percent in May 2020.Hopkins County was one of five counties whose unemployment rate dropped to 4.5 percent in May 2021. Guadalupe and Rockwall counties’ unemployment rates also fell 0.3 percent from April to May 2021, with Guadalupe county’s rate reduced from 10.0 percent in May 2020. All five of these counties had higher unemployment rates in 2020 than Hopkins’ 6.9 percent in May 2020.
While Hopkins County’s 4.5 percent unemployment rate was the lowest in the NET Workforce Development Area, it was by no means the lowest in the state.
In fact, 53 of the 254 counties in Texas had lower May 2021 unemployment rates Hopkins County’s 4.5 percent. The lowest unemployment rate in the state of Texas was reported in Loving County, where unemployment dropped from 3.7 percent in May 2020 to 1.3 percent in April and May of 2021.
Morris County had not only the highest unemployment rate in the NET WDA, but was one of only 13 in the state with double digit May 2021 unemployment rate. The highest unemployment rate in Texas in May 2021 was 16.7 percent in Starr County, dipping from 21 percent in May 2020 and 18 percent in April 2021. Starr was one of 13 Texas counties with the highest unemployment rates
| County | May 2021 | April 2021 | May 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crane | 10.5 | 11.7 | 19.7 |
| Duval | 10.3 | 11.6 | 16.6 |
| Jasper | 10.1 | 10.6 | 15.0 |
| Jefferson | 10.1 | 10.8 | 17.5 |
| Jim Wells | 11.2 | 12.1 | 17.7 |
| Martin | 14.0 | 15.7 | 19.6 |
| Morris | 10.5 | 11.4 | 11.9 |
| Newton | 10.2 | 10.8 | 15.1 |
| Presidio | 11.6 | 12.8 | 20.7 |
| Starr | 16.7 | 18.0 | 21.0 |
| Willacy | 11.6 | 12.4 | 15.7 |
| Zapata | 14.0 | 13.2 | 16.0 |
| Zavala | 12.4 | 13.8 | 18.1 |
| Texas County | May 2021 | April 2021 | May 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archer | 4.4 | 4.4 | 7.2 |
| Armstrong | 3.6 | 3.9 | 5.6 |
| Baylor | 4.0 | 3.6 | 4.4 |
| Blanco | 3.4 | 3.6 | 5.5 |
| Borden | 2.7 | 2.6 | 4.8 |
| Brazos | 4.3 | 4.5 | 8.1 |
| Burnet | 3.9 | 4.1 | 6.7 |
| Carson | 3.8 | 3.8 | 5.4 |
| Castro | 3.6 | 3.6 | 4.4 |
| Childress | 3.4 | 3.7 | 4.7 |
| Concho | 4.4 | 4.6 | 5.6 |
| Culberson | 4.3 | 4.5 | 9.8 |
| Dallam | 2.7 | 2.7 | 3.4 |
| Deaf Smith | 3.6 | 3.8 | 4.0 |
| Donley | 4.0 | 4.4 | 4.5 |
| Edwards | 4.2 | 4.2 | 3.8 |
| Edwards | 4.2 | 4.2 | 3.8 |
| Fannin | 4.1 | 4.4 | 6.7 |
| Fisher | 4.4 | 4.7 | 5.6 |
| Foard | 3.4 | 3.1 | 6.3 |
| Gillespie | 3.6 | 3.7 | 7.9 |
| Glasscock | 3.5 | 3.0 | 4.8 |
| Hamilton | 4.2 | 4.2 | 5.8 |
| Hansford | 3.2 | 3.2 | 3.5 |
| Hartley | 2.4 | 2.3 | 2.3 |
| Haskell | 3.9 | 4.0 | 5.1 |
| Hays | 4.3 | 4.6 | 10.7 |
| Hemphill | 4.4 | 4.5 | 5.4 |
| Kendall | 3.8 | 3.9 | 8.0 |
| Kent | 3.2 | 3.1 | 4.5 |
| Kimble | 4.4 | 4.7 | 5.7 |
| King | 1.5 | 1.4 | 2.7 |
| Lee | 4.3 | 4.5 | 6.6 |
| Lipscomb | 4.0 | 3.8 | 5.3 |
| Loving | 1.3 | 1.3 | 3.7 |
| Maverick | 3.1 | 3.1 | 3.3 |
| Mills | 4.4 | 4.3 | 4.6 |
| Moore | 3.4 | 3.6 | 4.8 |
| Oldham | 3.3 | 3.5 | 4.8 |
| Parmer | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.6 |
| Potter | 4.3 | 4.6 | 8.5 |
| Rains | 4.0 | 4.0 | 6.4 |
| Randall | 3.6 | 3.8 | 7.0 |
| Roberts | 3.9 | 4.4 | 5.9 |
| Runnels | 4.2 | 4.0 | 7.1 |
| Shackelford | 4.3 | 4.2 | 7.5 |
| Sherman | 3.1 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Stonewall | 3.6 | 4.2 | 6.5 |
| Taylor | 4.4 | 4.7 | 8.1 |
| Terrell | 3.7 | 4.0 | 5.8 |
| Throckmorton | 4.4 | 4.9 | 5.8 |
| Travis | 4.2 | 4.6 | 10.7 |
| Williamson | 4.2 | 4.5 | 9.8 |
