Editing Laredo, Texas (section)

===Labor market information===

As of October 2007, Laredo's labor market was in the following industries by percentage of number employed: Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (32%), Information (1%), Financial Activity (5%), Professional and Business Services (6%), Education and Health Services (15%), Leisure and Hospitality (10%), Government (23%), Mining and Construction (5%), Manufacturing (2%), and Other Services (2%).

Laredo has increased the number of nonagricultural jobs from 55,100 in January 1996 to 86,600 in October 2007. Laredo has had a higher job growth rate (2%–6.5%) than the state as a whole because of expanded international trade through NAFTA. In 2007, Laredo experienced a job growth rate of 2.5% with the unemployment rate as of October 2007, standing at  4.1% or 3,700 unemployed persons, as compared to 3.9% in Texas statewide. This is a significant drop since the mid-1990s, when Laredo's unemployment was over 15%.

Laredo has had positive job market growth since the mid-1990s; setbacks in the mining (oil/gas) industry shifted a few thousand workers to other industries such as international trade and construction. Many large employers in the oil and gas industries shut down operations in Laredo and across Texas, and shifted to foreign countries. The same effect occurred in the garment industry (Levis and Haggar) along the Texas border area. Laredo lost its only garment-producing company (Barry), costing the jobs of about 300 workers. Laredo's strong job growth rate in retail and transportation services limited the adverse effects of long-term unemployment from the few massive layoffs of the late 1990s. Laredo's success with international trade is also a vulnerability; it depends on changes to Mexico's economy, that status of immigration laws (along with daily border crossings: shoppers and commercial trade), and terrorism.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.southtexasworkforce.org/labor-market-information|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080628201836/http://www.southtexasworkforce.org/labor-market-information|url-status=dead|title=Laredo Labor Market, South Texas Workforce Commission|archive-date=June 28, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Texas Metro Market Overview: Laredo: Labor page 14|url=http://recenter.tamu.edu/mreports/2011/Laredo.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150203144126/http://recenter.tamu.edu/mreports/2011/Laredo.pdf|archive-date=February 3, 2015|access-date=August 27, 2017|website=Recenter.tamu.edu}}</ref>

====Top employers====

{|class="sortable wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse"
|'''Employer'''
|'''Category'''
|'''Employees'''
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|[[United Independent School District]] ||Education ||6,179
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|[[Laredo Independent School District]] ||Education ||4,500
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|City of Laredo ||Government ||2,371
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|[[U.S. Customs and Border Protection|Laredo Sector Border Patrol]] ||Immigration ||2,000
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|[[H-E-B]] ||Grocery ||1,626
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|[[Webb County]] ||Government ||1,500
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|[[Laredo Medical Center]]||Health care ||1,300
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|[[Texas A&M International University]] ||Education ||1,215
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|[[McDonald's]] ||Food ||1,200
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|[[Walmart]] ||Retail ||937
|-[[Oreil'y auto parts]] ||Retail/auto parts ||
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|[[Concentrix]] (formerly [[Convergys]]) ||Call Center ||860
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|[[Doctors Hospital (Laredo, Texas)|Doctors Hospital]]||Health Care ||811
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|[[International Bank of Commerce]] ||Financial Services ||661
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|[[Stripes Convenience Stores]] ||Retail/Convenience ||337
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|[[Laredo Energy Arena]] ||Entertainment ||293
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|[[Falcon International Bank]] ||Financial Services ||292
|}