State officials say the Texas unemployment rate has remained essentially flat as 19,500 jobs were added to the work force in May, according to the Associated Press. The Texas Workforce Commission announced Friday that the unemployment rate rose slightly from 6.4 percent in April to 6.5 percent. The rate remains a full point below the national rate for May of 7.6 percent. Officials say Texas has added 374,700 since May 2012, driven largely by growth in the health services, education and construction sectors.

Texas lawmakers are scheduled to approve redistricting maps and a new sentence for juveniles who commit capital crimes as they face key deadlines in the special legislative session, according to the AP. The Texas House is expected to meet Friday morning, and the Senate meets in the afternoon. The House is expected to approve a mandatory sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole in 40 years for 17-year-olds who commit capital murder. The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that life in prison without paroles was cruel and unusual punishment for minors. House members are also expected to give final approval to political maps largely drawn by federal judges for the 2012 elections. Lawmakers made only minor changes to the Texas House districts. Lawmakers have until Tuesday to pass special session legislation.

A new Big Tex has a new voice, according to the AP. But the State Fair of Texas isn’t ready to disclose whose pipes will provide that voice. Fair officials announced Thursday that the voice talent has been chosen for the fair’s iconic animated cowboy statue. Spokeswoman Sue Gooding says the talent’s identity won’t be revealed until the fair’s opening day Sept. 27. Gooding says the winner was chosen from among 111 applicants and four finalists. A new Big Tex is being fabricated after the previous statue burned down to its metal skeleton in the last week of the fair’s 2012 run in October. The fair dismissed longtime Big Tex voice Bill Bragg earlier this year after a contract dispute.