In A Recession, Don’t Mess With Texas

With the country mired in a recession, countless people are looking for a new boomtown. New data indicates one place that, if it isn’t recession-proof, is at least recession-resistant. 

That place is Texas. Granted, plenty of Texans are feeling the pinch. But the state is withstanding the hurt comparatively well.

The past year has seen moderate job creation in Texas, including a recent study by the Texas Healthcare and Bioscience Institute revealing that the state’s life sciences industry contributed $75 billion to the local economy. The state has also contributed more than $400 million as part of its Certified Capital Company Program which was implemented to increase jobs and tax revenue. The most recent U.S. Census information also showed 10 of the country’s top 25 counties in terms of job growth were in Texas.

The clincher was new numbers from New Geography which ranks the country’s strongest small, mid-sized and large cities based on regional job growth. Taking into account everything from manufacturing to financial services to transportation to retail and wholesale, New Geography listed nine Texas cities in its top 20. What’s more, the top five large cities listed were in Texas.

Skeptical at first, I was convinced when I saww the recent numbers from Moody’s which provided a list of 14 American cities that were still not in recession as of February. Six of them are in Texas, including Laredo, the only city in the country that was listed as expanding.

Admittedly, Texas cities are at risk of recession, but their resilience is fascinating considering only California has more illegal workers. Weren’t undocumented workers supposed to be stealing jobs from Americans? Perhaps not.

If there are any big thinking Texans out there, I encourage you to let the rest of the country know how to apply your state’s magic.