Monday, July 25, 2011
Houston Chronicle
by Ronnie Crocker
Powered by gains in oil and natural gas and manufacturing and a recent uptick in heavy construction, the Houston metro area has regained nearly 70 percent of the private-sector jobs it lost during the Great Recession, a local analyst says.
"To put it bluntly, that's just phenomenal," said Patrick Jankowski, vice president of research at the Greater Houston Partnership.
Acknowledging lingering concerns in the real estate and government sectors, Jankowski nonetheless was encouraged by the economy's overall resilience. He predicted the strong showing in private industry "will eventually start to influence the public sector."
Others also took heart in the monthly employment figures released Friday by the Texas Workforce Commission.
The report shows unemployment in the Houston region grew to 9 percent in June, up from 8.2 percent a month earlier. Statewide, unemployment rose to 8.2 percent, from 8 percent the previous month. The nation's unemployment rate for the month was a percentage point higher at 9.2 percent.
Part of this can be attributed to the annual influx of teachers and college and high school students into the workforce; the unemployment rate has gone up five of the last six Junes. But Jankowski said that, because of the way the rate is calculated, this particular increase might be yet another signal of an improving economy.
The rate is based on a survey, and only respondents actively seeking work are counted as unemployed. Jankowski said it's likely that some people who had given up during the recession have seen the continued positive jobs reports and rejoined the search for work.
He noted that the Houston region added 10,200 jobs in June, while adding 20,800 people to the workforce.
Statewide, there were 32,000 new nonfarm jobs in June.
In announcing the results, Workforce Commissioner Ronny Congleton, who represents labor on the three-member panel, noted that the state has added 117,600 jobs since January.
"While no state is immune from tough economic times, we're still putting many Texans back to work," Congleton said in a statement.
Jankowski, who has tracked the local employment scene since 1990, said the private sector in the Houston region shed 165,400 jobs by the time the recession bottomed out in January 2010. Since then, he said, the region has added 113,500 private jobs, or 68.6 percent of the number lost.
He cited several positive signs in the Workforce Commission statistics, which are based on local hiring over the past 12 months:
The oil and gas industry added 6,600 jobs, with a ripple of economic benefits that include a boost in the production of durable goods such as oil field equipment and heavy machinery.
Manufacturing added 8,900 jobs. Workers who were not laid off during the recession are getting more overtime pay, as their average work weeks have increased to 50 hours, up from 42 hours at the beginning of the recession.
From auto dealers to clothing stores, retail has added 5,400 jobs, although these increases have slowed during the past couple of months.
Restaurants and bars have added 8,400 jobs, attributable in part to population growth and increased consumer optimism.
There has even been an uptick in heavy construction. Jankowski said the addition of 3,400 jobs in this area is important because of the variety of goods and services associated with large projects such as building refineries and chemical plants.
Jobs tied to real estate continue to lag, the analyst said, along with home sales and commercial leasing.
Also under strain is the government sector. The latest figures show some declines, but Jankowski said he suspects the overall numbers will be revised downward as more data become available.
And while the decline in public-education jobs, at both the local school district and university levels, was about the same as it was last June, a typical seasonal drop-off as school years end, it won't be clear until the fall how many of those job losses are permanent, the result of layoffs brought on by budget cuts.
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