Frio jobless rate surges to 4.6 percent: Is CoreCivic closure to blame?

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Frio County’s unemployment rate soared to 4.6 percent in August, up from the four-percent rate of the previous month, according to Workforce Solutions Alamo (WSA) in its recent jobs report.
The announcement came after federal authorities confirmed in June that the CoreCivic family immigration facility on the outskirts of Dilley would close within 60 days. The facility on the Sendero Ranch adjoining the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Dolph Briscoe Unit employed hundreds of South Texas workers, including scores of local residents.
The unemployment rate for August in Frio County is now higher than the four-percent rate for the 13-county Workforce Development Area and higher than the 4.4-percent rate for Texas. Frio County’s rate was the highest in the 13-county WDA area, with 423 people presently actively looking and available for work.
Workforce Solutions Alamo (WSA) has released August 2024 unemployment data for Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Frio, Gillespie, Guadalupe, Karnes, Kendall, Kerr, McMullen, Medina, and Wilson counties.

Workforce Solutions Alamo (WSA) reports that the August 2024 unemployment rate for the eight-county San Antonio-New Braunfels metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is four percent, the same as the rate reported in July 2024. Since August of 2023, the MSA unemployment rate remained the same over the year at four percent.
The August 2024 unemployment rate for the San Antonio-New Braunfels metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is lower than the state’s non-seasonally adjusted (actual) rate of 4.4 percent for August 2024.
The civilian labor force for the MSA decreased by 6,171 able and ready individuals seeking employment over the month and increased by 35,973 individuals over the year.
August 2024 unemployment rates for each of the 13-counties that Workforce Solutions Alamo serves can be accessed online at the organization’s labor market data page.
Despite the apparent spike in the unemployment rate for the county, however, job availability numbers have risen, according to WSA, which is reporting that 27,000 employment positions have been added across the MSA region since August last year. The number indicates an annual job growth rate of 2.3 percent.