Workforce Solutions Borderplex has created a stunning series of charts documenting the sudden rise in unemployment in El Paso and Far West Texas as the coronavirus pandemic spreads. The charts break down first-time unemployment claims.
Almost 13,000 new claims in two weeks
March claims dwarfed January and February
Food preparers, servers hardest hit
The initial unemployment crisis is hitting El Paso’s low-paid workers the hardest. The average weekly wage for restaurant workers in El Paso is just over $300 a week, while retail and administrative workers average less than $600 a week, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.