When the Texas Legislature adjourns next week, this is certain: Texas will have a balanced budget with no tax increases and there will a big increase in its Rainy Day Fund “savings account.” Look around you. No other major state can make those claims.
Members of the Texas House and Senate will leave Austin this week after adjourning 06/01/09. They will not re-convene in Austin in regular session until January 2011. Many of them will watch other states raise taxes, cut their budgets and plea with Washington for help.
The release last Friday of the April 2009 workforce numbers show that Austin’s net job gain was 0.4% over April 2008, while Texas job totals are down 1.6% and nationally, the comparative numbers show a 3.8% loss. In pure numbers, the Austin metro gained 3,400 jobs.
An analysis by Beverly Kerr, VP/Research for the Austin Chamber, shows that Austin’s April-over-April net gain in jobs is due to a 3,900 gain in the government sector that compensated for 500 jobs lost in private industry.
Admittedly the increase in jobs in the Austin metro is small and the number of unemployed is higher than a year ago. But, hey, it’s the best job situation in the nation. Given this, an examination of how this has occurred is timely.
Which Austin private sector segments are losing the most jobs? Kerr said the highest rate of losses occurred in these three categories: natural resources and construction, manufacturing and wholesale trade.
Source: Volume 31, Number 9 of The Neal Spelce Austin Letter
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