Harlingen, McAllen metro areas tied for highest unemployment
The Harlingen-Brownsville metropolitan area and the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission metro area are tied for having the highest unemployment percentage wise in Texas — each at 11.2 percent, in December.
The difference is Harlingen dropped from 11.4 percent, while the McAllen region increased from 11.1 percent, in November.
The figures, released Friday by the Texas Workforce Commission, also revealed that the unemployment rate in the state was at 7.8 percent, the lowest it has been since July 2009.
The Midland metro area remained being the lowest unemployment region at 3.9 percent, while the Amarillo metro area was second at 4.9 percent
When it comes to Harlingen, nothing surprises me anymore, empty buildings, unemployed people, annexing, de-annexing, and then again annexing, staff getting obsorvent increases, while the private business suffers. Oh boy, only in Harlingen.
The highest unemployment rate in Texas has histically been the Brownsville and McAllen MSAs. That’s nothing new. A recent survey on Yahoo! also listed McAllen as number five in terms of most affordable and Harlingen as number one in the nation. The two usually go hand in hand. I always said if you are a professional two income family or higher paid blue collar worker then chances are you are doing quite well because of the low cost of living. This is also one of the biggest draws for Winter Texans. Where else can you get a whole lunch and beverage for $5, or pay $400/month for rent, under $1,000 for mortgage?