Posted on 01/05/2015 4:50:30 AM PST by thackney
Retired Southwest Airlines co-founder Herb Kelleher remembers a Texas bumper sticker from the late 1980s, when falling energy prices triggered an ugly regional downturn: Dear Lord, give me another boom and I promise I wont screw it up.
Texas got its wish with another energy-driven boom, and now plunging oil prices are testing whether the state has held up its end of the bargain.
The Lone Star States economy has been a national growth engine since the recession ended, expanding at a rate of 4.4% annually between 2009 and 2013, twice the pace of the U.S. as a whole.
The downturn in energy prices now has triggered a debate over whether Texas simply got lucky in recent years, thanks to a hydraulic-fracturing oil-and-gas boom, or whether it hit on an economic playbook that other states, and the country as a whole, could emulate.
One in seven jobs created nationally during the 50-month expansion has been created in Texas, where the unemployment rate, at 4.9%, is nearly a percentage point lower than the national average.
But a big dose of the states good fortune comes from the oil-and-gas sector. Midland, which sits atop the oil-rich Permian Basin, had the fastest weekly wage growth in the country among large counties: 9% in the 12 months ending June 2014.
Now that oil prices have plunged nearly 51% from their June peak to $52.69 a barrel, some Texans sobered by memories of past energy busts are bracing for a fall. The argument among economists and business leaders isnt whether the state will be hurt, but how badly.
Mr. Kelleher is among the Texans predicting this wont be a replay of the 1980s oil bust and banking crisis,...
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Do you have a link for that report?
Looks bad for Texas.
I know of two lumber brokers who came to work here in NH in 1984 & 1985 respectively. They were both previously working in the Houston area for Georgia Pacific. One continued to own a house in the Houston area for years. He had it rented because of the loss he would have taken if had sold it.
I do think this time around TX is much more diversified. My brother lives in Allen, TX. It is a suburb north of Dallas. He has been there for just over 10 years. He moved from the DC area. He said the expansion of new businesses on the north side of Dallas is impressive. None of them have a direct link to the energy industry. Many are companies that are RELOCATING to TX from other states in the country. Some of it may be tax advantages. Some may be right to work. Some may be the cost of living in relation to more expensive states/cities to live.
The other reason may be just Dallas central location. For example, the wholesale lumber industry has an annual convention that switches between Chicago, Vegas and Dallas. I prefer the Chicago site. However, it is easy to get a direct flight to Dallas/Fort Worth from almost any major city in the country. Plus there are direct flights from overseas.
If you recall, NH has benefitted from companies from Mass moving into NH just because the cost of living. I remember when Fidelity purchased the former Digital Equipment complex in Merrimack, NH. They moved 4000 jobs up here from downtown Boston. Every Mass employee that moved got a 5% raise just based on income tax. Then when you figure the cost of a house vs. Boston it was huge. I think the same thing has/is happening in TX.
Less than 4% of the entire Texas workforce is in the Oil and Gas industries! So, a HUGE drop in this area will NOT have the same effect that it did in the late 80’s.
Also, most of the workers in these boom times are NOT buying houses, they are living in man-camps, RV parks, and hotels. So, there will NOT be the huge drop in housing like in the late 80’s.
I don’t know what it’ll close at today but at least on the NASDAQ it is currently trading at $50.74.
http://www.nasdaq.com/markets/crude-oil.aspx
thank you so much. i need to digest these articles.
you are seriously a genius when it comes to this research, and not just setting sources in front of us, but analyzing as well. it is so much appreciated.
I heard it on the local news. Don’t remember which station.
I think there is still an “IF” attached to the prediction
if oil and gas producers see a 20 percent, or $13.5 billion, drop in earnings defined as wages, salaries, benefits and business profits
Texas could lose 212,000 jobs next year
Houston metropolitan statistical area, Kelsey estimates, could see 79,500 jobs lose if the oil extraction earnings fall by $6.6 billion.
Texas is booming. Very hard to find a new home for less than $200,000 and those are rare. If the crash happens there will be some builders left holding the bag.
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