The Longview area saw a jump in employment levels of more than 1,000 jobs in the past year, according to figures released Friday by the state.

The Longview area also continued to track below state and national unemployment rates as of June, the Texas Workforce Commission reported. The three-county Longview Metro Area posted a June unemployment rate of 7.8 percent, which was considerably below the state unemployment rate of 8.5 and the national June rate of 9.6 percent, according to the Texas Workforce Commission.

While the Longview area's unemployment rate was down from June 2009, when it stood at 8.3 percent, the region's civilian labor force was at a record high level for the month of June at 111,323. The labor force consists of the total number of people employed and those qualifying for unemployment.

The drop in unemployment rate translated into about 400 fewer residents being unemployed compared with a year ago.

Susan Mazarakes, interim executive of the Longview Economic Development Corp., said the fact the employment level jumped from 101,539 in June 2009 to 102,597 this past month is positive news.

"That means more people are getting pay checks so they can spend locally," she said. Mazarakes said the fact the local unemployment rate is from the 4 percent range of a couple of years ago also can have good implications.

"When we're working on recruiting companies here, it's easier when they know you have a work force available," she said. "When the rate was so low it was hard because there wasn't a good pool of workers to hire from."

Texas Workforce Commission spokeswoman Ann Hatchitt said the state employment picture is improving. Texas nonagricultural employment grew by about 14,000 jobs in June and has added more than 166,000 jobs since the first of the year, she said.

Tom Pauken, chairman of the commission, said the education and health services job growth at the state level led the way with the addition of 8,900 jobs.

"Texas employment has grown every month in 2010," he said.

In the Longview area, that job sector added about 400 jobs in the past year while government employers added about 500 jobs and the professional and business services sector added 200 jobs in the past year, Pauken said.

Hatchitt said the Longview area's manufacturing sector led in job losses with a drop from 11,300 jobs in June 2009 to about 11,000 this past month.

The Longview metro area's unemployment rate also was lower than that of Tyler at 8 percent; the Dallas area at 8.5 percent; and the Houston area at 8.8 percent in June, she said.