Houston Outperforms the Rest of the Nation for Job GrowthHOUSTON, Texas – The Houston metropolitan area gained more jobs--99,100--than any other metropolitan area in the nation between January 2006 and January 2007, according to numbers released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) today.
The January data show continued strength in some well-paid industries in Houston, with over-the-year growth of 7.1 percent in oil and gas extraction, 12.1 percent in support activities for oil and gas, 5.9 percent in durable goods manufacturing, 11.1 percent in architectural and engineering services, and 7.2 percent in computer systems design and related services. In the aggregate, goods producing sectors grew 5.8 percent; service providing sectors, 3.8 percent.
“Our Strategic Plan calls for fighting for jobs,” said Jeff Moseley, president and CEO, Greater Houston Partnership. “The BLS numbers show Houston on a dramatic growth trend, outpacing the rest of the nation in jobs gained. This is great news for our region and further validates our Board’s vision of contributing to the creation of 600,000 new jobs and $60 billion in capital investment by 2015.”
BLS reports data for 367 Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
Editor’s note: The BLS report may be viewed in its entirety by clicking here.
Alex Wang
