Gold Sponsors

Silver Sponsors

Last year, the Austin-area job market grew faster than any other major metro in the country—adding 27,200 jobs in 2025, which represents 2% year-over-year growth, according to an April 2026 report from Opportunity Austin.

Diving in deeper: The health care industry is among the fastest-growing, and is expected to grow 2.4% annually, adding about 6,780 workers per year, said Ashley King, director of health care partnerships at Workforce Solutions Capital Area.

As of November, the education and health services sector had added 4,100 jobs, or 2.5% growth, from the prior year, according to Opportunity Austin’s January 2026 economic indicators. Meanwhile, the information sector, which includes most of Austin’s tech workforce, declined 2.4%, or about 1,200 jobs, during the same time frame, according to the report.

What's happening: Nursing programs across the country turned away 93,176 qualified applications in 2025—a record high—primarily due to insufficient clinical placement sites, faculty shortages and limited classroom space.

Despite the hurdles, health sciences was the fastest-growing area of study at Austin Community College in fall 2025.

A new data-sharing program is helping Austin identify and fill potholes on city streets using data gathered by Waymo autonomous vehicles through the Waze for Cities platform.

The details: The free initiative involves Waymo vehicle systems tracking pothole locations and reporting them to transportation agencies. Data is also shared with Waze users, who can be alerted of pothole reports and verify their accuracy through the navigation app.

Austin street and bridge crews filled more than 1,800 resident-reported potholes in 2025, and several dozen potential pothole locations have already been identified through the Waymo data-sharing initiative so far this year. Waymo vehicles in Austin are reporting the latitude, longitude and on-street placement of potholes.

Going forward: Officials said the Waymo data-sharing program is intended to expand and could begin to include other types of reported information in the future.

Hotel Trinity is headed for downtown, offering fine dining, luxury lodging and rooftop guest amenities later this year, according to a news release. 

The new hotel will be part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection and marks hotel management company White Lodging’s 13th hotel in Austin. White Lodging is also behind other local spots like Westin Hotel, Corinne, Zanzibar and JW Marriott Austin.

Learn more: The hotel features 258 guest rooms across 14 floors with 20 suites and an additional 6,671-square-feet of event space. The boutique hotel is designed to accommodate gatherings from 12-300 guests, according to its website. 

Craving seafood? Locals and guests can also expect a fine dining experience at The Yacht Club, which will bring a selection of fresh oysters and signature dishes. The restaurant is set to open in fall 2026, according to its website, and offer a tasting menu, caviar service and champagne pairings. 

• 311 E. Fifth St., Austin

Check out six transportation project updates across the Austin metro.

$131M in CAMPO grants to fund WilCo road projects: The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization dedicated about $131 million in federal funding for nine road projects and one trail project. The projects span Georgetown, Hutto, Leander, Liberty Hill, Northwest Austin and Round Rock.

Austin seeks to rein in 'chaotic' e-moto use: A resolution advanced by city leaders this spring will now result in proposed updates to city code defining electronic motorcycles and mini-bikes and their legality, establishing when and where they're permitted and setting related penalties. A report on those changes will be presented by late July.

I-35 northbound lanes to temporarily close for up to 4 weekends: The Texas Department of Transportation will close the I-35 northbound main lanes between Slaughter Lane and SH 71/Ben White Boulevard as part of the I-35 Capital Express South Project from 11 p.m.-9 a.m. on July 10 and 11, July 17 and 18, and July 24 and 25 if needed.