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.
Economy
Get the latest on jobs, business, growth, and policy shaping the state’s economy with in-depth reporting from The Texas Tribune.
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Demographics
Smith Pushes to Mandate Use of E-Verify Nationwide
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.
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Economy
Officials Insist EPA Rule Could Turn the Lights Off in Texas
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.
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Economy
How Will Obama’s Jobs Bill Affect Texas?
President Obama sent a $447 billion jobs bill to Congress today — his latest attempt to revive the struggling economy. How will Texas be affected?
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Criminal Justice
Fact-Checking Romney’s Claims About Texas Jobs
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?
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Economy
Video: Dewhurst Attacks Obama, D.C. in New Campaign Ad
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who is running for the U.S. Senate, has released a new ad attacking the president and Washington, D.C.
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Criminal Justice
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
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.
Posted in
Demographics
What’s Different About the Border Economy?
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.
Posted inEconomy
Interactive: The Texas Economy by Region
These interactive maps will give you a closer look at the unemployment rates, the number of jobs created or lost over the last year and the median annual income of the metropolitan regions in Texas.
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Economy
Perry is “Fed Up” With D.C., But Inconsistently
Gov. Rick Perry has at times been inconsistent in applying his states’ rights beliefs, raising questions even among Republicans about whether his stance is as much campaign positioning as a philosophical commitment.
