AUSTIN (AP) -- The Texas unemployment rate climbed to 6.5 percent in February --- still well below the 8.1 percent national unemployment rate.
The state's unemployment rate rose slightly from 6.4 percent in January.
The Texas Workforce Commission says today Texas dropped 46,100 nonagricultural jobs in February. In January, the state lost 55,900 jobs overall.
Meanwhile, 14,700 jobs were added in education and health services in February, for an industry gain of 58,600 new positions in the past year.
The McAllen-Edinburg-Mission area experienced the highest unemployment rate in Texas at 9.6 percent (not seasonally adjusted) while Midland experienced the lowest, at 3.9 percent rate.
According to the commission, over the past 12 months Texas recorded a net job loss of 62,600.
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Following are the preliminary February jobless rates for local areas in Texas, with revised January numbers in parentheses. The local figures are not seasonally adjusted.
Abilene 5.0 (5.1)
Amarillo 4.5 (4.6)
Austin-Round Rock 6.3 (6.4)
Beaumont-Port Arthur 8.5 (8.8)
Brownsville-Harlingen 9.3 (9.5)
College Station-Bryan 4.8 (5.1)
Corpus Christi 6.0 (6.1)
Dallas-Plano-Irving 7.0 (7.1)
El Paso 8.2 (8.3)
Fort Worth-Arlington 6.9 (7.0)
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown 6.4 (6.5)
Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood 6.1 (6.5)
Laredo 7.4 (7.3)
Longview 6.0 (5.8)
Lubbock 4.5 (4.7)
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 9.6 (10.1)
Midland 3.9 (3.8)
Odessa 5.3 (4.9)
San Angelo 5.4 (5.7)
San Antonio 6.0 (6.3)
Sherman-Denison 7.1 (7.4)
Texarkana 5.7 (5.8)
Tyler 6.6 (6.8)
Victoria 5.9 (5.9)
Waco 5.8 (5.9)
Wichita Falls 6.7 (6.8)
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