AMARILLO, TX—The August jobs report showed that the national unemployment rate fell to 8.4%, which is almost half of its peak of 14.7% during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Those employment stats exemplify further signs of recovery in middle America.
To provide more context at the city level, WalletHub released a mid-year report on the cities where unemployment rates are bouncing back. The most recovered cities include Amarillo, TX; Plano, TX and Lubbock, TX.
"Amarillo had the fourth best unemployment rate recovery in July," Jill Gonzalez, WalletHub analyst, tells GlobeSt.com. "Overall, the city's unemployment rate is 5.3%, which is about half of the average of 10.2%. Plano has the 11th best unemployment recovery. The city has experienced a 103% increase in unemployment since the beginning of the year, which is considerably lower than the average increase of 203%. Its overall unemployment rate is 6.5%, among the lowest in the country."
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Cities are walking a delicate balance beam with respect to business restrictions and employment in states where cases are rising, says Gonzalez.
"Public health should take precedence, so cities can choose to have more restrictions than states if there is a local spike in COVID-19 cases," she says. "It's important to keep in mind that local lockdowns are only effective under certain conditions. Unless the flow of people to and from highly affected areas gets restricted, the virus will spread wherever infected people travel."
Gonzalez says promoting public social distancing will help cities' unemployment rates recover more quickly.
"Promoting social distancing in public will have a positive impact on the recovery of cities' unemployment rates," she points out. "WalletHub's research shows that around only around 30% of consumers would be comfortable shopping in person without protective measures, but another 47% would be comfortable if various protections were put in place, like mandatory mask wearing or Plexiglas shields at the register. Social distancing while reopening inspires greater consumer confidence, which in turn will lead to more people shopping and a greater cash flow to businesses, enabling them to start hiring again sooner."
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Lisa Brown
Lisa Brown is an editor for the south and west regions of GlobeSt.com. She has 25-plus years of real estate experience, with a regional PR role at Grubb & Ellis and a national communications position at MMI. Brown also spent 10 years as executive director at NAIOP San Francisco Bay Area chapter, where she led the organization to achieving its first national award honors and recognition on Capitol Hill. She has written extensively on commercial real estate topics and edited numerous pieces on the subject.
