DALLAS (AP) - The statewide unemployment rate edged up to 4.2% in November as the growth of non-farm jobs fell by half.

The Texas Workforce Commission said today that the state jobless rate grew from October's 4.1%, which matched a 31-year low. A year ago, it stood at 4.7%.

Nationwide, the November unemployment rate held steady at 4.7%.

The Workforce Commission said seasonally adjusted non-farm employment grew by 12,300 in November after an increase of more than 24,000 jobs the month before.

Initial claims for unemployment benefits in Texas rose 2.3% in November, to 59,943.

Midland continued to have the lowest unemployment rate in the state, at a steady 2.7%. Amarillo, Lubbock and Odessa were next at 3.2%.

The McAllen-Edinburg-Mission area, El Paso and Brownsville-Harlingen all continued to have unemployment rates over 5% - and rising. They were joined by Beaumont-Port Arthur.

Following are the preliminary November unemployment rates for local areas in Texas, with revised October figures in parentheses. The figures are not seasonally adjusted. The statewide unadjusted jobless rate was 4.1% in November, up from 3.9% in October.

Abilene 3.5 (3.3)

Amarillo 3.2 (3.1)

Austin-Round Rock 3.5 (3.3)

Beaumont-Port Arthur 5.3 (4.9)

Brownsville-Harlingen 5.6 (5.1)

College Station-Bryan 3.4 (3.2)

Corpus Christi 4.2 (3.9)

Dallas-Plano-Irving 4.1 (3.9)

El Paso 5.4 (5.2)

Fort Worth-Arlington 4.0 (3.8)

Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown 4.0 (3.8)

Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood 4.6 (4.3)

Laredo 4.5 (4.1)

Longview 3.8 (3.6)

Lubbock 3.2 (3.1)

McAllen-Edinburg-Mission 5.9 (5.3)

Midland 2.7 (2.7)

Odessa 3.2 (3.1)

San Angelo 3.5 (3.4)

San Antonio 3.9 (3.6)

Sherman-Denison 4.4 (4.4)

Texarkana 4.6 (4.4)

Tyler 4.0 (3.8)

Victoria 3.5 (3.4)

Waco 4.0 (3.8)

Wichita Falls 3.9 (3.7)

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