Frequently Asked Questions
Texas Labor Analysis is an online Regional Occupational Analysis Tool, that can provide insights into the labor workforce statistics, and the potential sources that can match the anticipated labor force demands.
The application can produce reports on long term or short-term demand, wage statistics, graduate, and job-seeker data. These different data points can be analyzed separately, for Texas statewide, or by Workforce Division.
Texas Labor Analysis is brought to you by the Labor Market and Career Information (LMCI) department of the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC).
The data used in Texas Labor Analysis is drawn from many sources:
THECB: Graduate and Enrollment data
HWOL: Monthly help wanted ads
WIT: Potential job seekers
BLS: Occupation information
LMCI: Employment statistics and wage information, and projections
TEA: STEM designations
Since the data used in Texas Labor Analysis comes from various sources, they are updated at different time intervals. The update frequencies for the sources are as below:
THECB: Annually
HWOL: Monthly
WIT: Monthly
LMCI: Wage and Employment details are updated annually. Projections are updated every 2 years
Note: The SOC taxonomy was updated from 2010 to 2018 in August 2022.
Texas Labor Analysis uses various sources for potential supply and labor demand. This data is collected by region (WDA). Using this data, occupations can be analyzed for probable surplus or shortage in labor. The application analyzes the two types of labor gap with the available data.
Current Demand
This comes from The Conference Board's Help Wanted OnLine (HWOL) data series and contains data pulled mid-month. The data is scraped from different online job boards and is cleaned to remove duplicates. It measures job postings and not actual openings.
Current Supply
This comes from TWC's Work In Texas (WIT) web tool. This tool requires registration for those receiving UI benefits and is available for any job seekers wishing to find a job. A user may enter up to 10 different occupations in WIT. A user may enter their job history which also may contain jobs that the seeker may have no intention taking again.
GAP (Current) (Monthly data from HWOL) - (Monthly data from WIT)
This represents the real-time gap that is equal to the difference between current supply data from WIT and current monthly demand from HWOL. A negative gap means more job seekers than available jobs. A positive gap means more jobs than job seekers.
Avg.Annual Openings
Comes from long-term projections data and is the sum of Annual Exits from workforce (retirements, returning to school, deaths, etc), Annual Transfers from Occupation (moving to another occupation), and Annual Change in Employment Growth. Captures total openings expected in a given labor market on an annual basis.
Annual Graduates
Comes from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB).
GAP (Annual) (Average annual openings) - (Annual Graduate data from THECB)
This is the difference between supply data from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board which is the annual graduate data and demand data of average annual openings that are estimated from the long-term projections data from LMI. A negative gap means more job seekers than available jobs. A positive gap means more jobs than job seekers.
Current Employment
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) employment estimate for the labor market area.
Projected Employment
Projected occupational employment from long-term projections.
A NAICS Taxonomy change from NAICS 2017 to 2022 necessitated a series break. Some industries will appear twice depending on the selected report date range. This was done to maintain historical data for comparative purposes.
You can find the list and definitions in the Glossary section.