Originally posted on 2011-04-27 02:48:39
So there is more news on jobs in Texas.
Business Journal had an article about data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics about job growth from March 2010 to March 2011: 47 states and D.C. add jobs; three states continue to lose. 18% of the job growth in the country was in Texas, with 8% of the jobs. The population of Texas is twice that of Illinois, but Texas gained four times as many jobs in the period covered by the survey.
The Austin Chamber of Commerce also released an analysis of the data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Austin area added 13,900 jobs (more that about 27 states). Of the Top Ten Performing Metro Areas, 4 are in Texas: Dallas, Houston, Fort Worth and Austin. Austin ranked number 8, even though it is the 35th largest metro area. (I always thought that Dallas and Fort Worth were part of the same metro area.)
On the other hand, Texas is also 3rd for mass layoffs. Texas had more applications for unemployment in March 2011 that in March 2010. But Austin added jobs. Perhaps we are still seeing the trend of rural areas losing jobs while metro areas are gaining.
This trend of metro growth and rural shrinkage is also true in Illinois. But Texas has more metro areas than Illinois does.