As Rick Perry has joined the Republican Party presidential fray, there will be questions about his prowess at bringing jobs to Texas. Of course, a governor can only directly “create” jobs by increasing payroll of government employment, but he does have a limited role in creating a more or less positive environment for businesses in the state, an that may have an impact on private employment as well.
The 2008-2011 recession has hit private employment in Texas just has it has in ogther ; however, it is worth noting that federal, state, and local employment figures have continued to rise through this same period. Rise in state employment figures roughly matches the growth in the state government budget, and of course, the state budget deficit. Some of these deficits have masked by federal ARRA “stimulus” funds, but that will be the subject of another post.
These stats drawn from the Texas Workforce Commission:
May 2008 – 8,857,500
May 2011 – 8,704,800
2011, though, has seen some job growth – not to pre-recession figures, but growing nonetheless. These stats may change, though, as often past month figures are re-adjusted:
Jan 2011 – 8,483,200
Feb – 8,514,400
Mar – 8,612,000
Apr – 8,674,200
State Government employment has gone up through the recession, which matches (approximately) the growth in our state budget through this same period:
May 2008 – 364,200
May 2011 – 378,700
May 2011 reflects an interesting decrease, perhaps due to the current budget battles at the state level. We’ll see if that drop remains:
Jan – 374,500
Feb – 385,000
Mar – 385,300
Apr – 385,300
Local government employment has also been growing through this period – this is partially state budget-driven, so is worth reflecting:
May 2008 – 1,244,600
May 2011 – 1,303,000
