Corpus Christi job market shows potential

 Job searches for college students and recent graduates do not have to be difficult in the Corpus Christi job market.

"There are jobs here and some jobs that are in growth right now are in education and healthcare," said Monika De La Garza, communications and outreach coordinator for Workforce Solutions of the Coastal Bend.

"These Jobs continue to increase month after month," De La Garza said.

According to data compiled by the members of the Workforce Solution of the Coastal Bend, as of June 2010, the current National unemployment rate was 9.6 percent with 14,885,000 unemployed.

The current unemployment projection for the Coastal Bend area, which includes all 12 counties, is at 8.7 percent with 24,572 unemployed. In the Coastal Bend as of June 2010, 283,295 people were available to work and of those, 258,723 were employed.

The current economy is not changing drastically from the long economic downfall, but unemployment in cities in Texas is not as high as other states in the country.

The unemployment rates for cities across Texas vary, according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics web site. The larger Texas cities are showing unemployment rates around 8 percent. The Houston/Sugar Land/Baytown area is at 8.8 percent. The Dallas/Fort Worth/Arlington area is at 8.5 percent and the Austin/Round Rock/San Marcos area has a lower unemployment rate of 7.4 percent.

Heather Moreno, a recent Liberal Arts and Pre-Nursing graduate of DMC is one of many students who plan on moving to find work in the future. "When I finish nursing school, I plan on moving out of Corpus Christi to find a job," Moreno said. "If Corpus is expanding, that's great, but people can't wait around for the jobs here. You have to go out and look for them, even if that means you have to change cities."

Andrew Gamboa, a Business Administration major plans on finding work in a bigger city after he graduates with his degree. "I want to work for a big corporation, and Corpus is not the best place to find them. I'm considering San Antonio, Houston and maybe even Dallas for work," Gamboa said. "The bigger cities have the bigger opportunities for employment."

Health care and jobs in education are still in demand, but according to the Demand Occupation List for 2009-2010 obtained by Workforce Solutions, some jobs in the Coastal Bend area that are available are jobs in the field of automotive service and repair, computer software and technology jobs.

Civil, electrical, and petroleum engineering jobs and specialized medical jobs like registered nurses, physical therapists, medical record technicians, and medical and clinical technicians are also available.

Other choices currently include school bus drivers, carpenters, chefs and kitchen managers, customer service representatives, mechanics, plumbers, firefighters, and general office clerks.

Some jobs require college degrees and some require months of training in that particular field. Workforce Solutions of the Coastal Bend has many tools and resources for students and the unemployed in Corpus Christi to utilize when searching the job market - whether they are looking for jobs locally, or in other cities in Texas.