Area’s unemployment rate continues to decline post-pandemic

Dalondo Moultrie The Seguin Gazette

Despite a coronavirus pandemic surging into its second full year, the economy in Seguin and Guadalupe County continues to show improvement. 

Unemployment rates in both Seguin and Guadalupe County have seen steady improvement over the past six months, said Adrian Lopez, CEO of Workforce Solutions Alamo. 

In fact, Workforce Solutions’ Alamo region has improved better than expected, he said. 

“One of the things I think has been in the news media a lot is about employers struggling to find employees and this whole issue about the ‘Great Resignation,’” Lopez said. “The reality is that for our region, the labor force is growing.”

While some parts of Texas and the United States have experienced sluggish returns to productivity and slumping economic numbers, the same can’t be said of this area, he said.

Alamo region businesses have seen people leaving the workforce, mostly those 55 years and older, Lopez said.

But, at the same time, the region has seen some impressive gains, he said.

Between December 2020 and December 2021, the region added about 20,000 people to the labor force, Lopez said.

“For us, we’re growing. That’s a really good indication,” he said. “What’s happening is we’re adding more jobs at a faster rate than we’re adding people to the labor force. It’s a good thing. We’re adding jobs and the economy is definitely recovering faster than I think people anticipated.”

The gains are a testament to people living and working in the region, Lopez said. They want to go back to work following drastic changes that accompanied the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Alamo region includes Guadalupe, Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Frio, Gillespie, Karnes, Kendall, Kerr, McMullen, Medina and Wilson counties. He expected December numbers, the most recent month for which Workforce Solutions had data, to show an unemployment rate of about 4% for the region, Lopez said.

In December, the unemployment rate was 3.7% across the region, he said.

Seguin’s unemployment rate in December was 3.6%, Lopez said. That number was down a tenth of a percentage point from a month earlier and showed steady improvement from at least the 5.1% mark registered in July 2021, he said. 

Guadalupe County did equally as well, according to Lopez. 

The county’s unemployment rate for December 2021 stood at 3.3%. Comparatively, Guadalupe County’s unemployment rate in December 2019 — before onset of the COVID-19 pandemic — was just shy of 3%, Lopez said. 

“If we were to consider where we were, Guadalupe County pre-pandemic, the unemployment for December 2019 was at 2.6%,” Lopez said. “We’re not at exactly pre-pandemic levels but we’re close. (Less than) 1% is not a lot of people.” 

He shared a five-year trend for unemployment rates in the month of December. For December 2017, the county’s unemployment rate was 3%. It rose a bit the following year to reach 3.1% in December 2018. 

Guadalupe County’s unemployment rate in December 2019 was 2.6%, skyrocketed during the first pandemic year to a troubling 5% in December 2020, and hastened to recover to last December’s 3.3%, Lopez said.

Workforce Solutions Alamo had about 46,000 posted jobs last week that needed to be filled, he said. Open job categories ran the gamut.

There were some in professional scientific fields, technical services, administrative support, healthcare, social services and beyond, Lopez said.

Having a strong and improving economy is good for the region, he said.

“It’s good to report, the labor force is growing,” Lopez said. “People are getting back to work. There are still some shortages but that’s because we’re adding more jobs than people.”

His organization continues to work to help employers and prospective employees meet and connect. Workforce Solutions hosts hiring fairs and brings jobs seekers and employers together to the table, Lopez said.

Last year, Workforce brought about 13,000 people to its hiring events, he said.

An event is scheduled for this month. The Seguin Winter Job Fair is a free event open to all job seekers.

It takes place 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 24 at the American Legion, 618 E. Kingsbury St. in Seguin.

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