El Paso Economic Indicators

Employment expanded in El Paso in October, though the unemployment rate ticked up. Wages rose but were down year over year. Meanwhile, trade volumes continued to grow in September.

Labor market

Employment expands

El Paso employment increased an annualized 3.9 percent (3,400 jobs) from July through October (Chart 1). Professional and business services experienced the largest gains (1,600 jobs), followed by education and health services (800 jobs). Government experienced the largest decline (-600 jobs). Year-to-date employment grew an annualized 2.3 percent in El Paso, faster than the state’s 1.6 percent increase.

Unemployment rate ticks up

El Paso’s unemployment rate increased slightly to 4.5 percent in October (Chart 2). This was higher than both the state’s and the nation’s jobless rates, which held steady at 4.1 percent.

Wages increase

El Paso’s average hourly earnings rose 2.8 percent to $22.92 in October but remained below the state’s average earnings of $33.23. Year over year in October, wages in the metro fell 1.0 percent (Chart 3). Meanwhile, wages rose 3.8 percent in Texas and 4.0 percent in the U.S. over the same period.

Trade

El Paso’s economy is heavily dependent on international trade, and total trade volumes have continued to trend upward this year. Total smoothed trade volumes grew to $159.3 billion in September, climbing 31.6 percent year over year (Chart 4). Imports increased 30.9 percent, and exports grew 32.7 percent over the same period.