Last week, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics released employment data for the 4^th Quarter and annual average of 2012, revealing strong growth across the Rural Capital Area, particularly at the end of the year. From 2011 to 2012, annual employment in the Rural Capital Area grew nearly double the US rate: 3.3% in the RCA compared to 1.8% nationally. When comparing end of year employment from Q4-2011 to Q4-2012, growth was even stronger, with RCA employment growing 4.3% over the year – over double the US rate of 1.8%.

When comparing 4^th quarter employment gains from 2011 to 2012, all counties in the Rural Capital Area performed stronger than their annual averages. The fastest growing counties in the region over this period were Lee County (7.9% growth), Hays County (5.8%), Caldwell County (5.3%), Llano County (4.1%) and Williamson County (3.9%). Bastrop County and Burnet County particularly finished strong at the end of 2012, growing 3.8% and 1.6% year-to-year in the 4^th quarter compared to only 0.7% and -1.1%, respectively in the yearly average.