Sep. 20--Texas employers managed to add jobs in August, but the number was thousands less than the month before, and it was not enough to keep the state's jobless rate from rising to 5 percent -- its highest level in two years.

The increase in nonfarm jobs came in at 6,700, down from 27,600 in July, the Texas Workforce Commission announced Friday. It was the second-lowest monthly total this year.

With the nation rocked by a financial crisis that grew more intense this week, the Texas jobs machine is likely to continue decelerating, analysts said.

"Our job growth has slowed, which is what you'd expect, because like it or not, we are part of the national economy," said Bernard Weinstein, an economist at the University of North Texas.

"We're going to have problems here. But we're not going to have a recession here, we're going to have a slowdown."

The U.S. economy as a whole had a jobless rate of 6.1 percent in August, and the nation has lost jobs every month this year. Texas has gained jobs each month.

"The rise in the Texas unemployment rate for August reflects the economic challenges facing our nation as a whole," said Tom Pauken, chairman of the Texas Workforce Commission.

North Texas is already seeing job losses at some of its largest employers.

Cuts are under way at Fort Worth-based AMR Corp., the parent company of American Airlines Inc.

Reductions are being planned at Plano-based Electronic Data Systems Corp., which was recently acquired by Hewlett-Packard Co.

Given this month's astonishing financial turmoil, businesspeople are taking a wait-and-see stance.

Uncertainty makes many businesses reluctant to hire, local businesspeople said.

"It just freezes it," said Drew Campbell, president of the New Car Dealers Association of Metropolitan Dallas.

"In periods of uncertainty, people stop hiring and in some cases, through attrition and otherwise, start reducing employment."

Hiring around the holiday shopping season is likely to be slow, analysts said.

Credit is getting tighter, which could crimp both business investment and consumer spending.

"In this environment, capital is probably generally going to be scarcer than what it's been, and it's probably going to be a little more expensive than what it's been," said Kent Wittman, Dallas city president at Compass Bank, a subsidiary of Spanish banking giant BBVA.

But financing is not gone.

"We're open for business," Mr. Wittman added. "We have liquidity."

And some local businesses are continuing to add jobs.

Joanne Teichman just hired another employee at Ylang 23, the Galleria jewelry store she owns with her husband, Charles. Earlier this year, they expanded the store, which they founded shortly before the bottom dropped out of the Texas economy in the 1980s.

"We've been here during the down times, in '86, '87," she said. "There are some lessons we've learned: Be a little cautious going forward, but look at the opportunity to build market share in this environment."

Other business owners say they haven't seen much fallout from the nation's financial woes, but add that it may be too soon to tell.

"I'm sure we'll all be affected to some degree," said Randall Underwood, who owns a small company that designs, builds and renovates homes.

"People will want to be more conservative as we move forward. But they're still doing wonderful things out there," he said of his customers.

The 6,700 jobs added in August amounted to a modest gain for the state.

It was below the 2008 average of more than 21,000 new jobs per month. But it was hardly the worst month -- the state's employers added only 5,200 jobs in May.

The August number is still subject to revision.

In looking at the jobs added, 3,200 of last month's gain was in trade, transportation and utilities. An additional 2,900 were in education and health services. Employers added 2,000 jobs in professional and business services and 1,500 in natural resources and mining.

Meanwhile, construction shed 700 jobs and manufacturing lost 1,100.

The state's 5 percent jobless rate in August was the highest since June 2006.