Texas: A Most Amazing Economic Phenomenon
By Alex Mills
AUSTIN Texas (Texas Insider Report) Texans love to brag about Texas.
There are many things to brag about and the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) recently released a study that gives Texans even more reasons to pound their chests. Since December 2007 when the Great Recession started
civilian
employment in Texas has increased more than 1.32 million jobs (12) while civilian employment
in the other 49 states has decreased almost one million jobs.
While the civilian workforce in the U.S. excluding Texas has decreased from 135.26 million in December 2007 to 134.27 million in September Texas has increased civilian employment from 11 million to 12.32 million during the same period according to AEI.
AEI
a private non-partisan think tank based in Washington D.C.
called the economic growth in Texas a most amazing economic phenomenon."
Its also important to note that while job
growth in Texas slowed considerably in 2008 and 2009 due to the recession the
level of civilian employment in Texas never fell below its pre-
recessionary December 2007 level" AEI said.
Also while Texas was able to actually increase jobs slightly even during the depths of the recession in 2008 and 2009 the U.S. labor market minus Texas experienced a
stunning loss of 8.374 million jobs (a percentage drop of 6.2) in the two-year period between December 2007 and December 2009" AEI noted.
In another job-related milestone for Texas the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that annual
payroll employment in Texas increased in September by more than 400000 jobs from a year ago for the second straight month and established a new all-time state record for job growth over a 12-month period with a 413700 gain from September 2013.
Over the last year Texas has added almost 1600 new jobs every business day a hiring rate of almost 200 jobs every hour!" AEI proclaimed.
Also Texass annual job gain of 413700 through September represented 15.7 of the countrys 2.635 million increase in non-farm payroll employment over that period even though Texass population is only 8.4 of the U.S. total.
In percentage terms Texas payrolls increased by 3.7 over the last 12 months almost double the 1.9 growth in U.S. payroll employment.
AEI points out that much of the economic success of Texas in recent years that has fueled job creation in the state is a direct result of the
shale oil and gas boom taking place in areas like the
Permian Basin in west Texas (1.8 million barrels of oil per day) and the
Eagle Ford in south central Texas (1.6 million barrels per day).
Texas is producing more than 36 of Americas total crude oil production and as a separate country would be the worlds 8th largest oil-producer.
AEI also pointed out that Texas has done a great job of attracting businesses like Toyota because of the states
employer-friendly combination of low taxes fair courts smart regulations and world-class workforce."
The Bottom Line" AEI continued the country the president and all of us individually owe a huge debt of gratitude to the state of Texas and to the oil and gas industry for helping support the U.S. economy during and after the Great Recession.
Without the energy-driven economic stimulus from the fracing revolution and without the gusher of jobs in the state of Texas theres no question that the Great Recession would have been much worse and lasted much longer and the jobs picture today would be much bleaker."
AEI even went so far as to thank the state of Saudi Texas" for playing such a significant role in softening the impact of the Great Recession on the US labor market and economy.
God Bless Texas" AEI said.
Alex Mills is President of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers. The opinions expressed are solely those of the author.
