HOUSTON—If you’re worried about keeping your job, who could blame you?

The current economic crisis has everyone concerned, but state records show Houston’s job market is actually doing better.

This doesn’t mean that people here aren’t pinching pennies.

Hollis Wood, who bartends at Molina’s Cantina, says people are cutting back on tips.

“Oh I know they are, I mean, hard times,” she said.

The national news is certainly bad as a fear of recession lingers.

“And it does create that fear. And you wonder, when is it going to hit here? When are we going to feel it?” Leonard Torres who is with Texas Workforce Solutions said.

But how is Houston doing?

11 News had the state’s employment agency pull the number of new job notices coming into their offices from Houston employers. Records show a year ago, job postings were running 4,700 a month. But by last April, they fell to about 3,500.

And by last month, they had plummeted to just 2,600.

“Employers were beginning to hire less and less,” Torres said.

The economic slowdown seemed to be hitting Houston, with employers cutting back and in some cases, even closing down. Bennigan’s, a car dealership, even some Starbucks were locking up and closing stores.

But then came even more bad news. Hurricane Ike kept thousands of workers off the job for days and destroyed some businesses.

Now, more than a month later, the number of job postings has gone up once again.

“We’re all of a sudden back up to where we were a year ago,” said Torres.

Job postings are projected to hit 5,000 this month, nearly double last month and on par with a year ago.

Demand in Houston is up for all kinds of construction and clean-up jobs, truck drivers, hotel workers, even clerical workers to process storm damage claims.

“You have to notice it’s not what it is in other parts of the country,” he said.

Entry level, low wage jobs are most susceptible to downturns. Restaurant workers are especially feeling the effects as people cut back on eating out.

But in Houston, even as some restaurants have closed, others are opening.  And cooks like Janette Sanchez say finding a job here is not difficult.

Hollis Wood got her job here with one call.

“They had an opening,” Wood said.

Ricardo Molina is Wood’s boss. The owner of Molina’s Cantina says it’s been a challenge hiring entry-level people.

The Ike-effect on jobs is expected to last six months to a year.

And there remains uncertainty over the severity of the downturn, here and nationally. But for the moment, Houston is still hiring.