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Metro Houston added a robust 16,800 jobs in May, according to data released today by the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC). That marks a rebound from a softer-than-usual April and the strongest May hiring since ’20, when the economy was rapidly recovering jobs lost during the initial COVID-19 shock. The gain puts Houston in line with the national labor market, with both local and U.S. payrolls up by 0.5 percent over the month. Coupled with meaningful gains in several recent months, May’s increase points to a labor market that may be regaining its footing after a softer ’25.
Over the past 12 months, Houston has added 21,300 jobs. Strong gains in construction, health care, and administrative support more than offset losses in other sectors. Construction led job growth, helped in part by unusually strong hiring for infrastructure and civil engineering projects last spring. Health care ranked second, with added demand for doctors, nurses, and other practitioners to serve Houston’s growing population. Administrative support also posted gains, driven largely by continued hiring for janitorial and building maintenance positions.
Although most sectors lost jobs over the year, the pullbacks were generally modest. Nine sectors shed fewer than 2,000 positions, while only two, finance and insurance and oil and gas extraction, posted larger losses. Much of the weakness in those two sectors reflects softer upstream conditions in ’25 and early ’26, when lower oil prices reduced incentives to finance or initiate new oil exploration and drilling. Oil and gas extraction has seen some rebound in hiring since the conflict with Iran led to sharply higher oil price, but those increases have been modest with many producers anticipating the recent price spike will partially fade in the coming months.
Total non-farm payroll employment for the region now stands at 3,507,700.
Prepared by Greater Houston Partnership Research Division.
Colin Baker
Manager of Economic Research
Greater Houston Partnership
[email protected]