SAN ANTONIO – The latest numbers from the U.S. Labor Department show the labor market is strong.
The economy continues to produce more jobs despite several possible headwinds. In fact, public and private sector payroll increased by 339,000 last month – but what about San Antonio?
KSAT spoke with local employers, job seekers, and Workforce Solutions Alamo to explain our local perspective.
“I’m just looking for a job, and they’re helping me out, you know, with finding employment. And they’re helping me out, you know, with what resources that they have,” Tracy Lopez said.
Like more than 40,000 people in our community, Lopez is looking for a job.
The latest numbers show that 43,973 locals are seeking meaningful employment. Although that may seem like a lot, our community has a total labor force of 1,286,856 people.
Adrian Lopez, CEO of Workforce Solutions Alamo, said the local labor market is the strongest it’s been in years.
“Today, we are still at about 3.4% unemployment, which is actually lower than the state’s 3.7% unemployment. So we’re doing really, really well over the course of — from April 2022 to April 2023, we added about 44,000 jobs,” said Lopez.
And it’s not just unemployment that looks good. There is also improved job creation.
“We’re below pre-pandemic levels, right? Great, great indicator, great job growth — 44,000 new jobs. Great increase in the labor force — 43,000 people new into the labor force,” Lopez said.
Lopez added that regardless of the 11 industries they track, they’ve seen positive job growth across the board and continue to see many employers out there looking to fill positions.
“We have over 40 positions that we need to fill,” said Ana Maria Garza Cortez with CentroMed.
Garza Cortez said CentroMed is actively looking for employees.
“We have been struggling with the labor market ever since the pandemic. So we’re finding more families or individuals that are applying for jobs that are having a hard time, wanting to work in the clinics,” Garza Cortez said.
She added that a big obstacle is people wanting to only work virtually from home, so that leaves the door open for others looking for job locations across San Antonio.
“Our medical assistant positions are starting at $17.50 an hour, which is a good salary for a medical assistant to start,” Garza Cortez said.
If you are looking for a job or looking to fill positions, check out: https://www.workforcesolutionsalamo.org/
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