Texas Led US Job Growth in 2013

Texas led the nation in job growth for the fourth straight year in 2013, reflecting the state’s strength and resilience recovering from the recession that ended in mid-2009.

The state added 252,400 jobs last year, according to preliminary state-by-state data released Tuesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The next-closest states were California, with 235,700 new jobs, and Florida, with 192,900.

Texas also added the most jobs in December (17,600), followed by Florida (14,100) and California (13,600).

“It’s a nice way to end the year,” said Michael T. Wolf, an economist for Wells Fargo. “Year-over-year percentage growth was positive for every major industry in Texas — even government was up. That bodes really well for Texas.”

Overall, 49 states gained jobs in 2013. Alaska, which lost 2,300, and the District of Columbia, which lost 600, were the only two places to show declines. North Dakota led the nation in its rate of growth last year, with employment up 4 percent from 2012.

Forty-two states, including Texas, and the District of Columbia, saw lower unemployment rates in December from a year earlier, according to the bureau. Six states saw higher rates, and two states saw no change.

Texas’ unemployment rate fell to 6 percent in December from 6.2 percent a year earlier. That’s still lower than the U.S. jobless rate, which declined to 6.7 percent from 7.9 percent a year earlier.

Rhode Island had the highest unemployment rate last month at 9.1 percent. North Dakota had the lowest at 2.6 percent.

Although Texas’ job growth last year was broad-based, the oil and gas industry played a large role, said Cheryl Abbot, a Dallas regional economist for the bureau.

Energy is a big reason Houston and Dallas have ranked high nationwide in job creation during the recovery, said Boyd Nash-Stacey, an economist for BBVA Compass bank.

Energy also drove growth in related industries, such as petrochemical and manufacturing, Wolf said. A thriving technology hub in Austin also has helped drive job growth, he said.

But Texas’ employment growth last year was down from 337,500 new jobs in 2012. The rate of growth slowed from 3.2 percent in 2012 to 2.3 percent last year.

Even energy-related job growth in the state has slowed: 4.6 percent in December, down from 7.4 percent in January 2013 and a peak of 17.8 percent in January 2012, Abbot said.

“The challenge for Texas moving forward is to make sure that growth [rate] doesn’t fall too much lower,” Wolf said.

Overall, job growth slowed last year in 29 states, including Arizona, California, New York, North Dakota and Utah.

“I definitely think Texas will stay in the top few states,” Wolf said. “Texas is one of the largest states, so it makes it a little easier to have the top spot in terms of actual numbers.”

Follow Sheryl Jean on Twitter at @SJeanDallas.

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