I noted earlier that the state of Texas--where I am employed--had seen hardly any of the employment losses taking place throughout the rest of the United States. I now can no longer make that claim. Nonfarm payroll employment numbers for December showed that Texas lost 37,000 jobs during past two months. Still, Texas did gain 153,700 jobs overall in 2008. Here is the figure for employment in Texas: (Click on figure to enlarge.)
By way of comparison, here is employment in California and Florida:
Below is a table for employment changes over 2008 for all states:
Hi David,
ReplyDeleteTexas is rather resilient (I am a Texan). Dallas home values are (looking at S&P Case Shiller index) down just over 6% from the peak. Compare that to Pheonix, with its 43% loss, and you have a market that has only been grazed.
I imagine that Houston has held up rather well also.
Rebecca
Hey Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteI consider myself fortunate to be here in Texas. Some state universities in distressed states are letting go of faculty, even tenured ones. Not here, though, where all one sees--take a drive between Austin and San Antonio on I-35 for example--are signs of healthy economic activity. Texas State University is actually upgrading and expanding the campus. I love this place!