Jan. 24--The grinding U.S. recession caught up to Texas in December, as state employers slashed 25,700 payroll jobs and the unemployment rate hit 6 percent, from 5.7 percent the month before, the Texas Workforce Commission said Friday.

"Our state's economy has been fairly resilient during these months of economic uncertainty, but the national economic storm has reached Texas," said Tom Pauken, commission chairman.

Moreover, the job losses turn out to have begun in November, when the state shed 11,300 jobs, according to significantly revised figures released Friday. Preliminary figures released last month showed the state had gained 7,300 jobs in November.

The state's weakening job market is already apparent to job seekers such as Kris Tyler, 42, a Plano mom who recently found out she's going to lose her marketing job at computer giant Hewlett-Packard Co. at the end of March.

Tyler was one of hundreds of people who crowded into a Friday job fair hosted by Career Builder.com and others at the Renaissance Dallas Richardson Hotel.

"For me, it's scary because I still have to pay tuition and a house note," Tyler said. "But I don't think I'm the only one. It seems like all of my friends are getting laid off every day."

To be sure, Texas remains far healthier than the national average. In 2008 as a whole, the state added 153,600 jobs, while the U.S. as a whole lost nearly 2.6 million.

In December, a year after the U.S. economy went into recession, the national unemployment rate was 7.2 percent. In California, one of the epicenters of the housing bust, the jobless rate hit 9.3 percent last month.

At 6 percent, the Texas jobless rate is nearly two percentage points higher than the 4.2 percent rate registered in December 2007.

"The longer we're in this downturn, the more Texas is going to get mired down with the rest of the country," said William Wallace, a former Federal Reserve official who now teaches economics at the University of North Texas.

Many seeking jobs

At the job fair Friday in Richardson, some people waited an hour just to park, and another hour in line to talk to recruiters.

"Employers were overwhelmed with the response," said Lisa Truett, district sales manager for Avon, who said she received hundreds of resumes and business cards. "It took us back a little bit. It was so humbling."

Meanwhile, layoff announcements continue to abound:

--Avnet Inc., a Phoenix-based distributor of electronic components and computer products, told the Texas Workforce Commission it was phasing out its Grapevine plant over 18 months, eventually wiping out 366 jobs.