Profile: Workforce Trends

In the early 2000s, unemployment in the Rural Capital Area matched national unemployment rates, but since 2006 and through the recession and the COVID-19 pandemic, unemployment in the RCA remained significantly lower than the U.S. Regional unemployment but by 2023 it matched the national unemployment rate again. The RCA unemployment peaked in 2010 at 7.3%, well below U.S. unemployment of 9.6% in the same year.  By 2019, the unemployment rate in the Rural Capital Area fell to a multi-decade low of 2.8%. In 2020 the unemployment rate jumped to 5.9% during the COVID-19 pandemic and then fell again in the following years back to a rate of 3.4% in 2023.

Figure 1: Unemployment Rate, 2003-2023

In addition to the existing educated workforce, the Rural Capital Area has residents in the workforce pipeline through the college systems in the RCA area. The number of students graduating from these institutions grew rapidly from 2013-2017 hitting a high of over 40,000 students but has decreased from 2017-2023 to just over 36,000. From 2013-2023 there was overall growth of 2.4%.

Figure 2: Graduates Per Year, 2013-2023

Enrollment at the University of Texas at Austin peaked in 2013 at 56,400 students but has since fallen to 55,700 by 2023.  Graduation levels at the University of Texas reached an all-time high peaking in 2016 and then dropping to reach 14,800 graduates in 2023.  As one of the nation’s top public schools producing thousands of graduates a year, the University of Texas remains a significant source of educated workers for Austin and the Rural Capital Area.

Figure 3: Total Enrollment, University of Texas at Austin, 2013-2023