Texas, Once a Star, Becomes a Drag on the U.S. Economy
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Texas, Once a Star, Becomes a Drag on the U.S. Economy
Since the collapse in oil prices, jobs are lost and growth stagnant; leaving Houston for Atlanta
By Erin Ailworth and Ben Leubsdorf
erin.ailworth@wsj.com
http://twitter.com/ailworth
ben.leubsdorf@wsj.com
http://twitter.com/BenLeubsdorf
Oct. 12, 2016 5:30 a.m. ET
HOUSTONTexas helped lead the U.S. out of recession, thanks in part to the shale drilling revolution. But after more than two years of slumping oil prices, the state is now a sore spot for the national economy. ... Petroleum prosperity helped usher in an economic boom in Texas, which added one out of every seven new American jobs between 2010 and 2014. But since the end of 2014, the state has lost more than 91,000 jobs in oil-and-gas extraction and mining-support activities, nearly half of the total national job losses in those categories. Texas payrolls were up 1.6% in August from a year earlier, trailing the national pace of job growth for the 11th consecutive month.
The collapse in oil pricesfrom more than $100 a barrel in June 2014 to roughly $50 todayhas been felt nationwide. But the largest economic impacts are in Texas, the nations second most populous state, which accounts for roughly 9% of U.S. economic output.
The Texas economy grew 3.9% a year on average from 2010 to 2015, nearly twice the U.S. pace, according to data from the U.S. Commerce Department. But the states output barely grew in this years first quarter, weighed down by losses in the mining sector, which includes the oil and gas industry.
The hiring slowdown in Texas accounts for some of the national deceleration in job creation since last year. And the Texas-centered energy bust has helped drive a national pullback in business spending on structures and equipment, a drag on overall economic growth.
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Lynn Cook contributed to this article.
Please note that the first chart does not measure the unemployment rate, but the change in the unemployment rate over that of the previous year.