Millions of Texas residents have filed for unemployment since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March. The unemployment rate is almost double the figure in January, and although the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas sees some recovery, it’s a grim picture.

In an Aug. 6 release, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas said that the state will recover some of the jobs by the end of the year, “but not enough to overcome the sharp declines in March and April,” according to a report in The Texas Tribune.

There are economic challenges to come as Texas' sales tax revenues have led to a shortfall in budget funding, the state’s employment department is understaffed and its technology is outdated. This has led to confusion and no benefits for many Texas residents. The state received funding to provide an extra $300 to unemployed individuals who have lost their jobs during the pandemic, but thousands of the unemployed didn’t qualify and the payments ended in September.

The housing system could be stacked against tenants, say housing attorneys and some eviction judges. The federal government recently announced a nationwide ban on evictions that could be helpful for millions of Texans who have lost their jobs.

Between Sept. 6-12, 49,644 Texas residents filed their initial applications for unemployment assistance. This is the smallest number of weekly initial applications since mid-March, but more Texas residents [nearly 3.5 million] have applied for unemployment assistance, more applications than the Texas Workforce Commission received in all of last year.

This sounds bad, but there is some good news about the unemployment rate. In August the state’s rate was 6.8%, according to the Sept. 18 release by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. April and May were the state’s worst months ever for jobless Texans, and the decline to 6.8% shows improvement.