Austin No. 3 for Most Jobs Gained Since Recession

According to the Austin Business Journal, Austin is among 13 of the nation’s 100 biggest labor markets to have regained all of the jobs that were lost during the recession.

The Capital City is ranked the third most prosperous metro during that five-year span adding 37,900 private-sector jobs, according to the Business Journals’ On Numbers, which used preliminary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics  data to compare 2011 private-sector employment levels against officials figures for 2006, the last full year before the recession’s onset.

For the Austin market, year-to-date from 2010 to 2011, is stronger. Closed home sales are up 5.2 percent, Pending sales are up 8.6 percent, and inventory of homes available is down 12.6 percent, which means fewer homes and more buyers.

With employment numbers like this and a lack of listings currently on the market, buyer are have to engage in multiple offer situations.

The Ugly Truth - The Texas & National Economy

I read an post to the Dallas Federal Reserve and I think Richard Fishers has some interesting and points on Texas and national economy.

The last paragraph in the post I think is relevant and places a light where it should be, Congress, "I think I have made it pretty clear today that I believe what is restraining our economy is not monetary policy but fiscal misfeasance in Washington. We elect our national leaders to safeguard our country. An integral part of that consists of safeguarding the nation’s fiscal probity. Pointing fingers at the Fed only diminishes credibility―the ugly truth is that the problem lies not with monetary policy but in the need to construct a modern, appropriate set of fiscal and regulatory levers and pulleys to better incentivize the private sector to channel money into productive use in expanding our economy and enriching our people. Only Congress, working together with the president, has the power to write the rules and provide the incentives to correct the course of the great ship we know and love as America. I hope you, as the voters who put them in office, will demand no less of them."

I enjoyed reading the entire post. Brings perspective outside of columnists, politicians and pundits alike.

Report: Austin will be 5th fastest growing U.S.metro in coming years

The population of the Austin metro area will grow to more than 2.7 million by the year 2025, according to an analysis of government data by bizjournals.

The projected growth rate of Austin and its suburbs ranks 5th among 250 U.S. metropolitan areas studied in the report.

Bizjournals forecasts that the Austin-Round Rock area will grow nearly 87 percent from its 2005 estimated population of nearly 1.5 million to a 2025 projected population of 2.7 million, an increase of nearly 1.3 million residents.

Austin will see the most growth of any Texas city, according to the bizjournals analysis. The McAllen-Edinburg area will be the second-fastest growing metro in Texas, ranking 22nd on the list with an estimated 56 percent growth in population.
Among the major Texas cities:

• Dallas/Fort Worth ranks 26th with a projected 50 percent population increase to 8.8 million people.
• Houston ranks 27th with a projected 48 percent population increase to 7.9 million people.
• San Antonio ranks 40th with a projected 41 percent population increase to 2.7 million people.

Source: Austin BizJournal, June 2 2009

Forbes ranks Austin No. 8 on best places for biz list

Forbes.com ranks Austin the 8th best place for business and care-ers in its latest list.

Texas' Capital City rose significantly from 47th on last year's list. Austin was behind cities such as No. 1 Raleigh, N.C. And No. 4 Fayetteville, Ark. The list was ranked according to factors such as cost of doing business and projected employment growth.

Forbes.com cited Austin's projected annual job growth rate of 2.3 percent--the fifth fastest in the country, and its relatively low sub-prime mortgage exposure.

For its reporting on Austin, Forbes.com spoke with the Charles Schwab Corp., which expanded its Austin presence in 2007 when it purchased the 401(k) Co. "The city of Austin is extremely business-friendly. They have bent over backwards to accommodate us," Glenn Cooper, head of real estate at Schwab, told the news site.

The top 10 cities on the list were as follows:

Raleigh, N.C.
Fort Collins, Colo.
Durham, N.C.
Fayetteville, Ark.
Lincoln, Neb.
Asheville, N.C.
Des Moines, Iowa
Austin, Texas
Boise, Idaho
Colorado Springs, Colo.

"Source: Austin Business Journal; Friday, March 27, 2009 "