(The Center Square) – Even though Texas is leading the country in job growth, the majority of the state’s population live in a county where employment fell or remained flat over the past year, according to an analysis of job growth data by the Austin-based think tank, Texas 2036.
“Texas has an established reputation as a job dynamo. But its workforce is changing, along with the skills Texans need to secure the family-sustaining jobs of the future,” the report states. “Over the past year, Texas’ job growth was strong at the state level. But where that growth landed was uneven. Fewer than half of Texans live in a county where employment grew — a gap that never shows up in the statewide total.”
Texas’ civilian labor force totaled 15.9 million in July. Its annual job growth rate also outpaced the national job growth rate as it has for the last several years, The Center Square reported.
Texas’ job growth rate is significant for two reasons, Texas 360 notes. “The state's labor force — everyone 16 and older who is working or actively looking for work — grew by 0.1% to 15.9 million during a time when the nation’s fell by 0.8%.” And Texas “accounted for roughly half of the nation's net job growth in the 12 months through July. It also added workers in a year when the country lost workers.”
As The Center Square previously reported, the top sectors reporting the most growth were trade, transportation and utilities, accounting for one in five jobs in July. Professional and business services added roughly 67,000 jobs in July, bringing the sector’s total jobs to 2.2 million in the first six months of the year, according to Texas Workforce Commission data.
Multiple sectors reported job losses, including the upstream sector of the oil and natural gas industry, information, manufacturing, financial activities and government.
The analysis compared the data by county, noting that over the past year, employment increased in 103 counties, by 40.6%; declined in 42 counties, by 16.5%; and remained flat in 109 counties, by 42.9%.
The differential is important because it points to 53% of Texans living in a county where employment fell or stayed flat over the past year, the think tank notes.
“Texas' economy is still outgrowing the country's. But the same data shows job growth slowing for four straight years, and that growth reaching some parts of the state and not others,” Dr. Tracy Ayrhart, vice president of Data and Research, Texas 2036, said. “That's why we watch these trends closely — to see what's coming for Texas’ labor force, while there's still time to prepare.”
According to a new Texas 2036 Texas Voter Poll, 59% surveyed said they “were confident there will be good opportunities for people like them over the next few years;” 34% said they weren’t.
The report’s findings come as Gov. Greg Abbott is campaigning across the state on an affordability tour.
Under President Donald Trump, costs have escalated despite his campaign promise to lower them.
Abbott’s affordability plan includes reducing property and casualty insurance costs, reducing auto insurance costs, instituting new policies for homeowners impacted by storms and inclement weather, reducing property taxes, reducing electricity costs in some regions, lowering housing costs, creating a new health insurance plan, and reducing public higher education institution tuition, among other proposals.
The report’s findings come after multiple polls show Abbott and other Republicans are in tight races. Multiple races that were previously considered solid Republican wins have been classified as toss ups or leaning Democrat.
