Houston #1 in job growth

Four Texas cities at top

Wendy Natt, Feb 12, 09.

Houston ranks highest nationally for job growth in 2008, when it added over 57,000 new jobs, according to a new bizjournals analysis of recently released figures from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The rankings were based on a comparison of December nonfarm employment totals for the past two years for all labor markets that have at least 250,000 nonfarm jobs.

Behind Houston, three other Texas cities - Dallas-Ft Worth, San Antonio, and Austin - dominated the top five list for number of added jobs. Washington, DC ranked at number three.

Of the 88 markets studied, 72 markets saw a decrease in employment in 2008. New York lost 130,000 jobs, the greatest total loss of any major market, according to the analysis. Chicago, Detroit, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Atlanta also ranked among the worst.

Recently updated projections for 2009 from Moody’s Economy.com show an overall worsening trend for job markets nationwide. A USA Today article based on the Moody’s forecast says that employers will cut 2.7 million positions this year, on top of the 2 million jobs eliminated in 2008.

Analysts say that some areas will see improvements in their labor markets sooner than others, particularly in the Sun Belt states like Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas, where jobs in health and leisure services continue to grow and are expected to stimulate further growth in their regional economies. According to the USA Today article, these southern markets “are expected to have the strongest job growth from the end of 2008 until the end of 2012…” Six states, including Texas, are expected to drop less than 1 percent of their jobs this year, according to the Moody’s Economy figures.

See these USA Today links to job growth forecast graphics from Moody’s Economy.com, showing Moody’s predictions by geographic region and by industry for the next three years.

(photo credit: billjacobus1)