Austin Jobs Among Hottest in Country

Austin jobs are among the hottest in the country.

The Wall Street Journal recently released a list of places it predicts will be the most attractive to youths. Not surprisingly, Austin was ranked in fifth place, behind Washington, D.C. and Seattle - which were tied for first place - New York and Portland, Ore.

Home to a University of Texas campus, Austin has become a gathering place for students and young adults interested in technology and arts. The city's SXSW media and arts conference and the Austin City Limits music festival often bring hundreds of thousands of visitors to the city each year.

Austin, which has a population of about 757,688 people, serves as the state capital of Texas. The city is known for its significant high-tech, video game and renewable-energy sectors and has a relatively low unemployment rate and cost of living.

During August, the Austin-Round Rock area saw its unemployment rate decrease from 7.3 percent to 7.2 percent, which was lower than the national unemployment rate at the time of 9.7 percent. Prior to August, the city hadn't seen its unemployment rate decrease since April, when it went from 6.2 percent to 5.8 percent.

The area had a total non-farm employment of 768,800 workers during August, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is up from 767,900, but a .9 percent decrease from last year.

Austin has been named as: the second Best Big City in Money magazine's 2006 list of "Best Places to Live"; the third "Greenest City in America" this year by MSN; the least stressful large metro area by Forbes magazine; second in CNN Headline News and Travel and Leisure magazine's lists of the best people; the number one college town by the Travel Channel and the fifth-safest city.