The Texas unemployment rate dropped only slightly this month from 8.5 percent to 8.4 percent, according to statistics released by the Texas Workforce Commission today. But the state’s economy is not performing as well as it was this time last year. And as the national economy has improved, the Texas economy has lagged.
Economy
Get the latest on jobs, business, growth, and policy shaping the state’s economy with in-depth reporting from The Texas Tribune.
Posted in
Economy
Memo to Voters: There’s No Free Lunch
Voters clearly want good schools and nice roads and low taxes. It’s a political and policy question straight out of a business textbook: What’s the right balance of price and quality?
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Economy
What Do Voters Want?
Texas Republicans are playing with the old Milton Friedman line: There is no such thing as a free lunch.
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Criminal Justice
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
The latest UT/TT Poll on the 2012 race and other issues, Root on Herman Cain’s stumble, Ramshaw and Titus on Texas Republicans who don’t support Perry, Murphy maps presidential fundraising in Texas, Philpott on changing the constitution for parks and education, Hamilton on a case of higher ed separation anxiety, Grissom on the state’s breakup with a death penalty witness, Galbraith on a congressman’s search for a big leak, Aguilar on the Border Patrol’s effort to operate in environmentally protected areas and Aaronson on a dramatic drop in government employment in Texas: The best of our best content from October 31 to November 4, 2011.
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University of Texas/Texas Tribune Polls
UT/TT Poll: Economy, Immigration Top Voter Concerns
Texas voters think the economy is the biggest problem facing the country but immigration is the most pressing issue facing the state, according to the new University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll.
Posted inEconomy, Higher Education, Public Education
Interactive: Budget Cuts Continue to Shrink Texas State Government
This interactive shows the dramatic drop in employment at Texas state agencies from the third quarter of fiscal year 2011 to the last quarter, right before $15 billion in cuts to the 2012-2013 biennium budget kicked in Sept. 1.
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University of Texas/Texas Tribune Polls
UT/TT Poll: Most Voters Don’t Credit Perry for Texas’ Economic Success
Texas voters are more likely to attribute the state’s economic success to its natural resources and long-standing pro-business policies than to Gov. Rick Perry’s leadership, according to the new University of Texas/Texas Tribune poll.
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Economy
New Perry Ad: “I’m a Doer, Not a Talker”
Gov. Rick Perry’s campaign is broadcasting a new ad in Iowa starting today that implicity denigrates Barack Obama for being “slick” and using a TelePrompter and explicity promises action instead of talk.
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Economy
Perry’s First Paid Ad Hits Iowa Airwaves
Rick Perry’s presidential campaign reportedly spent $175,000 on its first ad buy in Iowa, whose crucial caucus is a little more than two months away. The ad focuses on job creation efforts in Texas during Perry’s tenure as governor.
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Criminal Justice
Court Hears Challenge to State Business Tax
A successful challenge to the state’s primary business tax would throw lawmakers into special session to try to find enough money to pay for public schools, a lawyer for the state told the Texas Supreme Court today.
