Texas Leads Nation For 12-Month Jobs Gain

TEXAS, December 11 - December 11, 2025 | Austin, Texas | Press Release

Governor Greg Abbott today celebrated Texas as America’s jobs leader with the largest 12-month jobs gain in the nation based on September employment data. The state also set new records for the number of Texans working, the size of the Texas labor force, and total Texas jobs.

“Texas is where free enterprise flourishes and jobs grow,” said Governor Abbott. “That is why Texas leads all states with the largest 12-month jobs gain in the nation. From innovative startups to Fortune 500 corporations, job-creating businesses invest with confidence in Texas. With our strong and growing workforce, we will continue to expand career and technical training programs for better jobs and bigger paycheck opportunities for more Texans.”

September labor market data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Texas Workforce Commission shows:

• Texas reached a new high with the largest labor force ever in the state’s history at 15,879,000.
• Texas reached a new high for Texans working, including self-employed, at 15,222,900.
• Texas reached a new high for nonfarm jobs at 14,343,800 after adding 4,600 positions over the month.
• Texas gained 168,000 jobs from September 2024 to September 2025, leading all states and outpacing the national annual job growth rate by 0.4 percentage points.
• The Texas unemployment rate held steady at 4.1%, below the U.S. unemployment rate of 4.4%.

Governor Abbott recently announced more than $14 million in Jobs and Education for Texans (JET) training grants to Texas higher education institutions and independent school districts (ISD) for career and technical education (CTE) programs and $1 million in dual credit grants to Texas ISDs to train more students for high-demand, good-paying jobs after graduation.