The latest economy news from The Texas Tribune.
This interactive table shows how much stimulus funding was awarded to state agencies, how it was received and spent, and the number of jobs created or retained with the money, according to quarterly reports filed by recipients of stimulus funds. Full Story
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Murphy, Ramshaw and Root on Rick Perry and race, Philpott on Perry's vague economic plans, Tan and Wiseman on Barack Obama's foray into Texas to defend his jobs plan, Aguilar on Perry's proposal to send U.S. troops to Mexico, Ramshaw on efforts to leash rising health care costs, M. Smith on upcoming legal challenges to the state's school finance system, Aaronson interactively explores Medicare spending proposals, Galbraith on efforts to pass — and to oppose — a $6 billion water program, Grissom on the release of a man wrongly convicted of murder and Hamilton on efforts to let the public write some legislation: The best of our best content from October 3 to 7, 2011. Full Story
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Texas’s congressional Republicans seized on new unemployment numbers to decry President Obama’s economic policies days after he stopped in Mesquite to sell his jobs plan. Full Story
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MESQUITE — While speaking at Eastfield College today, President Barack Obama invoked the name of a laid-off Texas teacher and challenged GOP House Majority Leader Eric Cantor to bring up the American Jobs Act for a vote on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. Full Story
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President Obama delivered an impassioned defense of his jobs plan in Mesquite — and strong rhetoric against his GOP critics. Full Story
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Rick Perry's campaign has released a video in anticipation of President Obama's scheduled visits to Dallas and Mesquite today. The video mocks the president's 2009 stimulus plan before highlighting Perry's "four core principles" for creating jobs. Full Story
President Obama, scheduled to push his jobs plan today in Dallas, is stepping into politically hostile territory to challenge Gov. Rick Perry on what the Perry campaign believes is the Texan's strongest issue: job creation. Full Story
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Aaronson on the shrinking of state government, Aguilar on the controversy over in-state tuition for the children of undocumented immigrants, Galbraith on Rick Perry vs. the EPA, Grissom on a startling development in a 25-year-old murder case, Hamilton on Ken Starr's first year as president of Baylor, Ramsey on what inmates have to do with redistricting, Ramshaw on the state's crisis in insurance coverage, Root on Perry's presidential grind dance and Smith on obstacles to addressing childhood obesity: The best of our best content from Sept. 26-30, 2011. Full Story
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The Tribune loves infographics, including the recent one posted by the Perry campaign called “State of Texas Economy.” But like all claims made by a political campaign, it deserves the scrutiny of a fact-checking exercise. Full Story
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The numbers prove it: State government is shrinking. Many attribute the drop in state jobs to the budget cuts lawmakers passed last legislative session. But agencies had been preparing for the deficit by dropping employees for more than a year. Full Story
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Anticipating the $15 billion in budget cuts lawmakers passed during the legislative session, state agencies have been dropping employees for more than a year. This table shows employment changes at state agencies from May 2010 to May 2011. Full Story
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Protesters gathered outside the Headliners Club in Austin to urge U.S. House Speaker John Boehner and Congress to pass the American Jobs Act. Boehner was in Austin to attend a reception with several GOP congressmen from Texas. Full Story
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The shining Texas jobs miracle that Gov. Rick Perry is touting on the presidential campaign trail may be dimming, according to statistics released today by the Texas Workforce Commission. Texas lost 1,300 jobs in August, marking the first month of employment decline in Texas in almost a year. Full Story
U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, took his efforts to require nationwide use of the electronic employment verification program, known as E-Verify, before his committee today. “Yes, E-Verify is a jobs killer, but only for illegal workers,” he said. Full Story
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At a hearing today, power companies and state agencies slammed the Environmental Protection Agency over a measure aimed at reducing emissions from power plants in 27 states, including Texas. Full Story
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President Obama sent a $447 billion jobs bill to Congress today — his latest attempt to revive the struggling economy. How will Texas be affected? Full Story
Mitt Romney says Rick Perry has "substantially underperformed his predecessors on job creation” and that the state's unemployment rate has doubled on his watch. Is Romney right? Full Story
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who is running for the U.S. Senate, has released a new ad attacking the president and Washington, D.C. Full Story
Aaronson on the stats behind the Texas Miracle, Aguilar on an area of the budget that didn't get cut during the session, Dehn and Tan wrap-up our 31 Days, 31 Ways project, Galbraith talks to Todd Staples about the drought, Grissom on controversial executions during Rick Perry's tenure (plus a visualization by Murphy and Seger), Hamilton on the Rodney Dangerfield of Texas universities, Philpott on the search for clues in past Perry debates, Ramshaw on Perry's opposition to abortion rights and Root on Perry's assurances to conservatives that his past won't embarrass them: The best of our best content from Aug. 29 to Sept. 2, 2011. Full Story
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On the national stage, Texas' economy is its best selling point. But this so-called "Texas Miracle" doesn't extend statewide: In the border region, unemployment reaches as high as 13.2 percent, and the median income is 30 percent lower than the statewide average. Full Story