Texas is faring during the Recession

The recession has turned America’s economy on its head, but Texas is faring relatively well, according to a new study.
High-profile states that led the charge to prosperity earlier in the decade are now among the biggest drags on economic progress. Nevada, Arizona, Florida, California and Georgia rank among the seven weakest states today, according to an analysis by Bizjournals, an affiliate of the Houston Business Journal.
Small, underpublicized states, on the other hand, are faring remarkably well in these tough times. North Dakota, Louisiana, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Alaska and West Virginia are among the seven strongest states economically. Texas comes in as the 10th-strongest state.
Bizjournals analyzed the recent economic records of all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Each state’s results were compared to corresponding national averages in six categories. Above-average performances received positive scores, while below-average numbers drew negative scores.
The study focused on the following indicators, using raw data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and Federal Housing Finance Agency
• Unemployment rate
• Nonfarm employment growth
• Personal income growth
• Wage growth
• Home value growth
• Construction employment growth
North Dakota, surprisingly to many, emerged as America’s economic powerhouse, ranking first in Bizjournals’ overall standings. It’s the only state with an unemployment rate below 5 percent. And it’s the only one with positive growth rates in all five remaining categories during the past 12 months.
The news is far worse in Nevada, the weakest state in Bizjournals’ standings. Nevada’s unemployment rate has soared to 12 percent, its job base has shrunk by 6.2 percent since mid-2008, and its home values have plummeted 31.1 percent during the same span.
Michigan ranks next-to-last in economic strength, followed by Arizona, Florida and California. These four states all lost more than 5 percent of their jobs during the past year. Their wage levels and home values have also dropped substantially.
The population gap between America’s strongest and weakest states is striking. Four of the 10 strongholds have fewer than 1 million residents, while each of the 10 weaklings has more than 2.7 million people. Texas, in many respects, appears as an anomaly in that it is faring well and has a large population.
The cumulative population of the Top 10 states is 42 million, with No. 10 Texas (25 million) accounting for more than half of that total. The bottom 10 states, taken as a group, are nearly three times as populous with 118 million residents.
Texas’ ranking in the Bizjournals analysis caps a string of similar studies proclaiming the state as one of the best to weather the recession. Houston collected similar recognition in April when it was named seventh on the Forbes.com list of the Top 10 “Recession-Proof Cities” in the United States.
Forbes.com examined key measures such as unemployment data, nonfarm related job growth, median home prices and data from a 2007 report, “U.S. Metro Economies: The Mortgage Crisis” by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

By: Bizjournals.com