Texas or Bust!
T
But the state’s economy has performed better than
most, bolstering its attractiveness to outsiders.
Since January 2007, net nonfarm employment in the United
States has decreased by almost seven million jobs. Meanwhile,
Texas added 389,500 jobs. That was about ten times the net job
growth of second-place North Dakota.
Only seven other states (North Dakota, Louisiana, Alaska,
Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wyoming and Nebraska) and the
District of Columbia had increases in nonfarm employment
over the 54-month period through July 2011 (Table 1). Together,
they represented a net increase of about 119,000 jobs, less
than one-fourth the total of Texas’ increase.
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau reveals about half a million
people annually have been relocating to Texas from other
states in recent years. Migrants from foreign countries account
for another 180,000 a year.
What areas are immigrants relocating from? What levels of
income and education do they bring? What sectors of the Texas
economy are employing them? This is the first in a series of
articles addressing these and other questions.