File Unemployment

Texas’ unemployment rate was unchanged in April at 6.7 percent from the prior month and “continued to trend well below the national rate of 8.9 percent,” the Texas Workforce Commission said Friday.

Nonagricultural employment, adjusted for seasonal fluctuations, fell by 39,500 in April in Texas. That followed a revised March job loss of 48,800, for the sixth straight month-to-month decline.

Texas lost 48,800 jobs in March, according to revised data released Friday. That was slightly higher than the preliminary figure of 47,100 announced last month.

The state has lost 196,600 jobs so far this year. Between April 2008 and April 2009, the Texas job base shrank by 1.6 percent, compared with the overall national contraction of 3.8 percent.

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In Texas last month, the professional and business services category, which includes temporary workers, lost 20,100 jobs compared to its level in March. The category called trade, transportation and utilities lost 15,400 jobs.

Manufacturing lost 13,300 jobs in April, while mining and logging – which includes oil and gas drilling – lost 5,500. Construction employment fell by 3,200.

Leisure and hospitality managed to gain 10,600 jobs, while education and health services added 4,500.

Among the 50 states and Washington, D.C., Michigan had the highest jobless rate in April, at 12.9 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Michigan was followed by Oregon, at 12 percent; South Carolina, at 11.5 percent; Rhode Island, at 11.1 percent; and California, at 11 percent.