Workers in California’s three biggest cities are the most anxious about a recession and resulting job cuts – understandable considering the steady stream of downsizings coming from top tech giants like Facebook parent Meta, Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Salesforce.

But the next three cities in SmartAsset’s “layoff anxiety” ranking are all in the Lone Star State, with Austin placing fourth, Dallas-Fort Worth fifth and Houston sixth. San Antonio isn’t far behind, landing in the 10th spot nationally among 94 metro areas examined.

So how did SmartAsset determine the anxiety level in those cities?

It analyzed what people have been Googling over the last year, paying special attention to job cut-related phrases like “layoffs,” “furlough,” “severance pay,” “recession,” “downsizing” and “unemployment benefits.”

In Austin and D-FW, metro areas with sizable technology workforces, “recession” was the most searched word on Google. Walmart said this week that it’s closing three tech hubs nationally, including one in Austin where a few dozen employees worked remotely.

Those workers could keep their jobs, move to D-FW and work from Walmart’s Sam’s Club innovation center in downtown Dallas.

The Dallas metro area recorded the third-highest total of tech job postings in January, with employers looking to fill 11,158 positions, according to industry group CompTIA’s tracking. Dallas ended 2021 with the sixth-largest tech workforce in the U.S., with over 313,000 tech industry jobs, CompTIA reported.

Even as the labor market remains strong with U.S. employers adding 517,000 jobs in January, recession fears are a persistent undercurrent.A recent Harris Poll and Fast Company survey of 1,000 Americans found that three-quarters were at least somewhat anxious about the economy going into 2023.

Dallas-Fort Worth is beginning to see a few mass layoffs, based on notices filed with the Texas Workforce Commission. State Farm last month said it would lay off 150 employees in March after hiring HCLTech to handle its information technology help desk. The company said many of those employees will be offered jobs with HCLTech.

The biggest layoff announced in North Texas this year came from struggling retailer Bed Bath & Beyond. It plans to permanently close a distribution center in Lewisville that will put 374 employees out of work by April.

Earlier this month, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas said the Texas economy is heading for a “soft landing” this year with slower-than-normal job growth. The regional bank is predicting a below-trend 1.4% increase in jobs this year – a significant slowing from last year’s 3.5% pace.

Texas’ annual job growth is typically around 2%.