File photo
File photo
Cameron and Hidalgo counties saw their highest unemployment numbers in April with over 41,000 jobs lost because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’ve never seen it this high,” Pat Hobbs, executive director of Cameron Workforce Solutions, a Harlingen-based employment agency, told the Valley Morning Star. “Even when it was bad, the unemployment was at 12 percent.”
The unemployment rate in the twin counties soared to 17 percent.
Other counties are suffering the same. The Morning Star report said Willacy County lost approximately 1,058 jobs, reaching a 17.4% unemployment level, while Starr County lost 4,025 jobs, 24.3% of its workforce, in April.
The losses came as businesses were mandated to close to stop the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. Gov. Greg Abbott began to allow reopening of businesses in May. Hobbs said he hopes and expects to see the reopenings reverse the jobless rate.
Raudel Garza, executive officer of the Harlingen Economic Development Corp., said how soon the region can bounce back remains unknown.
"As businesses start opening up, people are going to get back to work so I think we’ll see an uptick,” he said in the Morning Star report.
The area’s leisure and hospitality industry including restaurants lost 21,000 jobs. Health care, retail, education and government jobs account for about 80% of the area's total number of jobs. Officials said they are counting on this segment resuming normal operations to kick-start the economy.
However, Hobbs said some jobs won’t be back as employers have learned they don’t need a physical office, with workers working out of their homes.
“Some industries see, ‘I don’t need brick and mortar,’” he said.
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