Texas the Best State for Future Job Growth, Forbes Says
Texas is the top state for its current economic climate and future job growth in Forbes' annual Best States for Business study released this week. Texas has added 2.1 million jobs since 2000, more than twice as many as any other state, Forbes reports. Moody's Analytics expects Texas to have an annual job growth rate of 2.7 percent over the next five years — the fastest in the nation — ranking it No. 1 on Forbes' "Best States for Job Growth" list. Naturally, Forbes cites Texas' pro-business environment and the energy industry for its impressive job growth. "Texas has done well primarily because it is an energy center. You really can't get around that", Edward Friedman, an economist who tracks Texas for Moody's Analytics, told Forbes. "Every major energy and oil company has realized over the last 15 years that the only place to be is Houston". Outside of Houston, Forbes cites Toyota Motor Corp.'s (NYSE: TM) new campus in Plano, Charles Schwab Corp. (NYSE: SCHW) moving jobs to Austin and El Paso, and Apple Inc.'s (Nasdaq: AAPL) expansion in Austin as other examples of the massive business investments in Texas. In addition to Texas' impressive job growth, it also is expected to have the second-fastest economic growth rate over the next five years: 4.1 percent annually. However, the education rate of Texas' workforce hurts it in the overall ranking. It has the second-lowest percentage of adults with a high school degree: 82 percent.
Forbes, November 14, 2014
