Valley’s population boom offsets number of new jobs

McALLEN — The Rio Grande Valley continues to hold on to the highest unemployment rates in the state.

In September, Hidalgo County’s unemployment rate edged up a tenth of a point to 6.2 percent, according to the Dallas Federal Reserve. At the same time, the unemployment rate in the Brownsville-Harlingen area rose one-fifth of a point to 5.8 percent, after losing 200 jobs.

In fact, with a state rate of 4.4 percent, the McAllen and Brownsville areas led the state in unemployment.

Even so, the economies of both border metropolitan areas have been on an upswing in recent years.

The border cities mark some of the highest economic growth rates in the entire state, according to the Dallas Fed statistics. Less than a decade ago, both the greater McAllen and Brownsville areas were registering jobless rates greater than 10 percent.

The Valley has added more than 120,000 jobs since then, yet the number of people living in the area is greater than before.

“I think that there are probably a lot of factors that are accompanying that,” said Keith Patridge. “As we create more jobs, we tend to have more people want to come back and get a job here.”

That was true in September, when an additional 5,600 people living in Hidalgo County offset the 5,100 more jobs in the area. Government and healthcare industry positions made up for a good chunk of the new jobs last month.

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Kyle Arnold covers business, the economy and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4410.