Jun. 20--Local job losses are mounting as the global recession and lower worldwide demand for energy take their toll on Houston.

The Houston economy lost 56,300 jobs between May 2008 and May 2009, according to data released Friday by the Texas Workforce Commission. The 2.2 percent decline is the area's largest over-the-year job loss since 1987.

In addition, the agency revised its employment data from April after finding that job loss was greater than it originally estimated.

Instead of losing 8,800 jobs during April, the Houston area shed 20,100 jobs.

"We haven't seen the brakes applied this hard since the 1980s," said Joel Wagher, labor market analyst for Workforce Solutions, which manages employment services, education and training for the area.

One local economist believes the situation is gloomier than the official data indicate. The Federal Reserve Bank does a seasonal adjustment and calculated that during the past six months, employment in Houston is down 3.7 percent on an annualized basis, said senior economist Bill Gilmer of the Houston branch.

In the spring of 2008, oil prices were over $100 a barrel and marching even higher, which was a good time for Houston. But looking just in the past six months as global demand for energy has dipped?

"Houston has clearly moved into reverse," said Gilmer. "There is no question about it."

He pointed to the jobless rate, the purchasing managers index and retail sales data to illustrate Houston's recent slide.

From his conversations with retailers, Gilmer said, "the consumer has turned just about as cautious as elsewhere in the country."

Jobless rate at 6.9%

The Houston area's unemployment rate rose to 6.9 percent in May, up from 6.3 percent the previous month, according to the commission. A year earlier, the local jobless rate stood at 4.4 percent. The figures, unlike statewide and national numbers, are not seasonally adjusted.

Statewide, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 7.1 percent in May, up from a revised 6.6 percent in April. The national rate currently stands at 9.4 percent.

In January, Houston was still putting on jobs. Not a lot of them -- 17,800 more than January 2008 -- but it was still a positive number, according to commission data.

That changed in February when Houston started racking up over-the-year job losses, Wagher said.

Four months of consecutive cuts have, in turn, caused the number of initial unemployment benefit claims to skyrocket.

In May, 26,095 Houston-area residents filed initial claims, according to the commission. That's 82 percent higher than one year earlier.

Key sectors lose jobs

In May, job gains in government and health care couldn't make up for the lost jobs in several key areas of Houston's economy including construction, manufacturing and professional services such as job placement agencies.

"We're definitely seeing the layoffs in the Houston market," said Trina Daniels, branch manager for the north Houston office of Spherion.

The personnel staffing firm has received many more applications from job seekers, while clients haven't been putting in as many orders.

It's been like that for about six months, said Daniels, but recently, business is picking up especially in safety-product and energy-related manufacturing.

"We're hopeful about that," she said. "Once we see manufacturing start to increase production, then we normally see other companies increase their business as well."

lm.sixel@chron.com

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