Texas unemployment at highest level since 1987

The unemployment rate in Texas has jumped to 8.4 percent in July, the highest level since the state was reeling from an energy, real estate and banking crisis 24 years ago.

The Texas Workforce Commission said Friday the jobless rate was up from 8.2 percent in June. The increase came despite a 10th consecutive month of job growth. The agency says the state added 29,300 jobs in July.

The unemployment rate matched the figure from July 1987.

Commission Chairman Tom Pauken says the state "continues to feel the effects of a stagnant national economy." The U.S. jobless rate is 9.1 percent.

The trade, transportation and utility sector added 15,300 jobs last month, but that was offset by a combined loss of 15,400 jobs in the government and construction sectors.

Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry, the Texas governor, has pointed to Texas' strong record on job creation as one of his qualifications for the presidency. Perry has provided generous subsidies to lure companies to Texas from other states and has kept taxes and regulations low.

"Since June of 2009, Texas is responsible for more than 40 percent of all of the new jobs created in America," Perry said in announcing his candidacy Saturday. "Now think about that. We're home to less than 10 percent of the population in America, but 40 percent of all the new jobs were created in that state."

Democrats have suggested Perry does not deserve credit for the state's jobs boom, suggesting that it resulted from population growth and a rise in oil prices. They have also noted that Texas is tied with Mississippi for the highest percentage of minimum wage jobs of any state.

Perry became governor in December 2000.

[obwan222]

"The fact is, government doesn't create jobs, otherwise the last 2-1/2 years of stimulus would have worked," Perry said this month in a speech to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

In May 2010 an economic development fund administered by the governor's office handed $3 million to G-Con, a pharmaceutical start-up. Mark Miner, a spokesman for Mr. Perry, said there was no connection between G-Con executive's contributions to Perry's campaign fund and the grant to G-Con. He said that the purpose of the state money WAS TO CREATE JOBS.

What Perry does not say is that much of Texas job growth has come because of government. The number of government jobs in Texas has grown at more than double the rate of private-sector employment during Perry's tenure. Between December 2007 and last June, private-sector employment in Texas declined by 0.6 percent while public-sector jobs increased by 6.4 percent.

Texas has also had an easier time during the recession because of government regulation. Texas was shielded from the worst of the housing-market bust by the state government's tight regulation of home equity loans, which were not permitted until the late 1990s and are limited to 80 percent of a homeowner's equity.

"Because of early and robust regulation, We never had that disconnect between incomes and home prices that you saw elsewhere at the height of the housing bubble," said Douglas B. Foster, commissioner of the Texas Department of Savings and Mortgage Lending.

"Governor Perry is not against all regulations," Miner said.

In terms of the Texas miracle, a lot of citizens are still waiting for the miracle to happen for them.

More than a quarter of the state's population lacks health-care coverage. Texas is last in the country when it comes to the number of adults with high school diplomas.

The Census Bureau says 9.5 percent of the Texas workforce is paid at or below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, tying it with Mississippi for the largest share of minimum-wage workers in the country.

[midvale3]

Having a state of sharecroppers will boost your employment numbers, but at what cost.

[stupa5]

Go Figure!

[lucifersshadow]

Perry is a paper tiger. Him and Obama have one big thing in common, and that is they are good at spreading the B*ll Sh**.

[34sender]

Many of the jobs created in Texas are government jobs. Perry took the very stimulus money from the feds that he maligned.

One side of his face - bad federal government.

The other side - give me, give me, feed me money, federal government!

This guy is a hypocrite among hypocrites. I sure hope Romney grows a pair for the upcoming GOP debate... I KNOW Ron Paul will eviscerate Perry. I can't wait for that!

[lucifersshadow]

Ron Paul is the best hope the GOP has of getting rid of Obama . . . I am from the far left, and, I would vote for Ron Paul long before I would vote for Obama.

[cbs4111]

Texas's unemployment rate is 8.4%, lower than the nation's average of 9.1%. Hmmm. California's unemployment rate is 12.0%, much higher than the nation's average. Michigan is at 10.9%, D.C., where BO lives now (when he's not on vacation) is at 10.8%. Illinois, where BO comes from, is at 9.5%.

It seems like Texas is doing quite well, CBS and the liberal fools that wrote in here would be more believable if they were picking on Gov. Jerry Brown of the Liberal Democrat Loony Republic of California.

[troopf4]

CBS needs to ask Maxine Waters what the unemployment rate is in black communities, especially Chicago and Detroit.

[springmc1]

Jerry Brown is not running for president.

[bajajohn1]

Texas ranks last in most major statistical categories comparing achievements in education, environmental controls, teen pregnancy prevention programs etc. and they rank 1st in BS. The last two Governors are George Bush and Rick Perry. Eighteen years of buffoons in charge of the Texas Executive Branch....but then again, the right-wing racists who control the state vote them in. If Texas has high unemployment now, with all the oil drilling occurring, they are really in bad shape.

[troopf4]

Texas is not on the verge of bankruptcy like CA and Ill. Check how much CA and Ill. are in the red regarding public sector penisons and benefits - CA over 60 billion, Ill. close behind at 49.5 billion - since CA is at least double the size of Ill. sounds like Ill. has it pretty good , if you have a public sector job or are retired , that is, until the well runs dry..

[troopf4]

Texas is not on the verge of bankruptcy like CA and Ill. Check how much CA and Ill. are in the red regarding public sector penisons and benefits - CA over 60 billion, Ill. close behind at 49.5 billion - since CA is at least double the size of Ill. sounds like Ill. has it pretty good , if you have a public sector job or are retired , that is, until the well runs dry..

[lucifersshadow]

Two things Perry does not see: Evolution and unemployment.

[imnotimportant]

Three things Perry does not see: Evolution, unemployment, and his own ignorance.

[34sender]

Four things:

Losing based on hubris not being the American ideal.

[royrogers1948]

If it was not for the oil and gas industry in Texas, unemployment in Texas would be much higher. Pretty Hair Perry had absolutely nothing to do with oil and gas being below the surface of Texas Soil. He might should think about stopping taking claim for this because his Tooth Fairy in the sky may geta little P---off.

[msimamaji]

So this is the Great Texas Economic Miracle. Remember that a lot of jobs in Texas pay ratty wages without any fringe benefits. A lot of Texans do not have health insurance. Homless shelters in Texas are overcrowded. Look at the value of WalMart stock. People on Texas style wages can't even afford to shop at WalMart.
And lest I forget, many parts of Texas are suffering from a record drought. How might the drought affect unemployment. And as the planet gets warmer from the record amount of greenhouses gases we dump into the atmosphere we can expect more droughts and wildfires. So how many more jobs will global climate change destroy.
But there's hope, isn't there? Last April Gov. Perry prayed three days straight for rain. So where's the rain? What might God be trying to tell us?

[troopf4]

What makes you think Texas is the only state that people don't have health insurance or are out of work or work for minimum wage. Since Obama took office the unemployment rate is higher and it is not a true figure - more like 20%- as high as 51% in the inner cities..

[34sender]

The higher UI rate has been a second number for years -- when people who stopped looking or took lesser work are calculated, you get the higher percentage than just UI claims. It is not just now, troop.

Texas is not the only state without health insurance, etc. -- it is one of the worst when you consider the whole economic and personal prosperity picture.