Unemployment in Harris County Getting worse

HOUSTON—Local employment agencies say they’re slammed with job seekers, and it seems to be getting tougher to find work.

In the fourth quarter of 2007, the number of unemployment benefit filings in Harris County was just above 44,000. In the fourth quarter of 2008, that number topped 91,000.

Vance Ratcliff is one of those area residents searching for work. He said he’s worked security for retail stores for several years.

But when he comes across a rare opening these days, Ratcliff said employers are choosing to hire younger and cheaper.

“You put out application after application and don’t get no response back on anything,” he said. “They really want to hire at a rate of $7 an hour, and they know you’ll ask for more, given your experience.”

Currently, unemployment sits at 5.5 percent in the Houston area, which is far better than the national average.

But labor analysts expect that to increase, especially because the job losses at DOW Chemical, Shriners and UTMB aren’t in the numbers yet.