Six months after the coronavirus pandemic began choking the economy, Texas' unemployment rate in August was 6.8% — a sign the state's economy has improved from the spring months, but is still suffering.
The Texas rate, announced by the U.S. Labor Department, is down from 8% in July and an even starker improvement from April and May when Gov. Greg Abbott closed or limited in-person commerce across the state.
But after Abbott sought to reenergize the flailing economy by allowing businesses to reopen, the coronavirus spread rapidly through Texas, eventually leading Abbott to reverse some of his economic decisions. And in late August and early September, after weeks of declining numbers of Texans applying for unemployment relief, that trend reversed.
