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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, 2006
  Labor force Employment Unemployment
Number Rate
Austin MSA 831,405 797,030 34,375 4.1%
Bastrop Co. 35,021 33,418 1,603 4.6%
Caldwell Co. 16,620 15,812 808 4.9%
Hays Co. 69,865 66,939 2,926 4.2%
Travis Co. 522,790 501,640 21,150 4.0%
Williamson Co. 187,111 179,222 7,889 4.2%
Unemployment Rates
  2003 2004 2005 2006
Austin MSA 6.0 5.1 4.5 4.1
Texas 6.7 6.0 5.4 4.9
U.S. 6.0 5.5 5.1 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
  2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Total non-farm 658,400 653,000 667,400 692,200 720,000
Construction, natural
resources, & mining 		38,200 37,400 37,700 40,200 44,500
Manufacturing 63,500 57,700 57,400 57,300 58,600
Wholesale trade 33,900 33,700 35,400 37,400 38,100
Retail trade 68,300 67,800 69,100 72,700 76,000
Transportation, warehousing,
& utilities 		11,100 10,600 11,000 11,700 12,500
Information 22,600 20,800 20,500 21,500 21,800
Financial activities 38,000 39,500 40,000 41,200 43,000
Professional & business services 87,200 85,600 89,100 94,100 98,700
Educational & health Services 64,700 66,000 68,400 71,100 73,200
Leisure & hospitality 62,300 63,800 67,100 69,700 74,000
Other services 23,900 24,500 26,000 26,500 27,600
Government 144,800 145,600 145,800 148,900 151,900
Employment by Industry 2006
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 2006
Austin MSA United States Austin/
U.S.
Wage Salary Wage Salary
All occupations $19.19 $39,910 $18.84 $39,190 102
Management 44.19 91,900 44.20 91,930 100
Business & financial operations 27.78 57,790 28.85 60,000 96
Computer & mathematical 34.41 71,570 33.29 69,240 103
Architecture & engineering 31.10 64,680 31.82 66,190 98
Life, physical, & social science 27.66 57,530 28.68 59,660 96
Community & social services 16.57 34,460 18.75 39,000 88
Legal 36.72 76,380 41.04 85,360 89
Education, training, & library 19.77 41,120 21.79 45,320 91
Arts, design, entertainment, sports & media 22.67 47,150 22.17 46,110 102
Healthcare practitioners & technical 29.78 61,930 29.82 62,030 100
Healthcare support 11.56 24,050 11.83 24,610 98
Protective service 16.27 33,830 17.81 37,040 91
Food preparation & serving related 8.30 17,270 8.86 18,430 94
Building & grounds cleaning & maintenance 9.60 19,960 10.86 22,580 88
Personal care & service 9.96 20,710 11.02 22,920 90
Sales & related 16.49 34,300 16.52 34,350 100
Office & administrative support 14.87 30,940 14.60 30,370 102
Farming, fishing & forestry 8.91 18,530 10.49 21,810 85
Construction & extraction 14.72 30,620 18.89 39,290 78
Installation, maintenance & repair 17.59 36,590 18.78 39,060 94
Production 13.53 28,140 14.65 30,480 92
Transportation & material moving 12.21 25,390 14.16 29,460 86
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.
2006
Total 3.0% 4.9% 12.0% 3.9% 5.9% 13.1%
Private 0.9% 2.8% 7.4% 1.5% 3.2% 8.1%
Priv, Mfg NA 5.9% 11.7% NA 6.5% 12.5%
Public 10.4% 15.5% 36.2% 12.7% 19.6% 40.1%
1996
Total 5.3% 6.6% 14.5% 6.4% 8.0% 16.2%
Private 3.5% 4.1% 10.0% 3.5% 4.8% 11.0%
Priv, Mfg NA 8.5% 17.2% NA 9.6% 18.3%
Public 10.2% 17.9% 37.6% 14.3% 23.2% 43.0%
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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