Texas Bucks National Unemployment Trends

You know who this helps? People who live in Texas and/or want jobs, or to run a business and live the American dream. Oh, and the state’s governor.

Need a job?

Move to Texas

Finding work may not be quite that simple, but it sure seems that way. While the nation’s job growth has limped along since the economic recovery began two years ago, the Lone Star State is enlarging payrolls in Texas-size fashion.

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Texas’ big gains are partly a reflection of its population growth. But the recent job gains are outpacing the rate of population growth in Texas, the nation’s second-largest state, with 25 million residents — about 8% of the U.S. population.

The state’s payrolls have risen 2.9% since the end of the recession, third behind North Dakota and Alaska and far outpacing the USA’s 0.4% growth, according to the BLS. Also, Texas’ 8.2% unemployment rate is well below the nation’s 9.2%.

“For one large state to grow (jobs) so much faster than the rest of the nation is very unusual,” says Moody’s economist Ed Friedman.