HomeMy WebLinkAbout(1) TEXAS WORKFORCE COMMISSIONINTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM
TO:
FROM:
SUBJECT:
STEVE FITZGIBBONS, CITY MANAGER
PAUL BROWN, PLANNING DEPARTMENT
REPORT ON PORT ARTHUR UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURES AS
REQUESTED BY COUNCILMEMBER CHAISSON
DATE: 27 MARCH 2002
Councilmember Chaisson requested a report from the Texas Workforce Commission that
answered three questions:
1. How are unemployment figures compiled for the City of Port Arthur?
2. Are the surrounding cities unemployment figures included in the Port Arthur figures?
3. Do the figures include those persons who are under employed as well as those
unemployed?
In brief, the answer to the second two questions is "No." The answer to the fnst question
requires a bit more explanation. This report also will expound on the answers to the second
two questions.
In general, all unemployment figures - i.e. national, state, county, city and Metropolitan
Statistical Area - are the result of statistical caloalations that rely only partially on counts of
actual human beings who have or do not have actual, documented jobs. To paraphrase one
explanation I received: It's all an educated guess.
David Jesus, a labor market analyst with TWC in Austin, said all unemployment and
employment figures in Texas are generated according to guidelines established by the federal
Bureau of Labor Statistics. The only actual count numbers are gathered from weekly reports
for the number of people requesting unemployment compensation, the number of people
receiving their last week of unemployment compensation, and from reports filed by
companies providing the number of employees they have. Reports of employees currendy
on strike are also considered.
From there, those numbers enter a complicated formula that is the same across all parts of
the country. The resulting "statistical model" is based on the U.S. Census report for
populations of dries, counties and MSAs. Across the nation, the data for the 11~ of each
month are calculated to create the various unemployment rates. Once the unemployment
rate is established for each state, that estimation is reapportioned to the rest of the state's
areas (cities, counties and MSAs) based on the most recent census data.
Mr. Jesus said the entire country is still using the 1990 Census numbers and won't switch to
the 2000 data until sometime late in 2003 or early 2004.
So the calculated unemployment figures for Port Arthur come from statistical guesses
affected by Port Arthur's census count in 1990. Figures for the surrounding cities are based
on their 1990 census data as adjusted by the other data entered into the formula.
I've endosed printouts of employment and unemployment figures by month dating back to
1990 for Port Arthur, all of the surrounding dries, Jefferson County and the Beaumont-Port
Arthur MSA, which includes Orange. For comparison, I've also included the same
information for the city of Galveston, whose 2000 census count of 57,247 is a mere 508
souls fewer than Port Arthur's 57,755.
Since the unemployment data is but an estimate and the number of employed based on the
number of reported jobs, neither the Texas Labor Market data nor the national numbers
include estimates of under-employed individuals working in jobs for which they are over-
qualified. Mr. Jesus said he knows of no estimates of under-employment.
o o~ ,- ~-
LU'3
O 0
ooo~
o 0,4
O~-coO~
o~o~
oo 0 c~ co~o
0
z I-- ,, ~
(3)
Z~u.~
o~>~
.,--001,,4
I-. .~tti :~ n" .JLLI
0 0
t.O 0,1 CO 0