The Texas Lie: TX Dead Last in Job Creation

Governor Perry loves to toss around that ol' "40% of the new jobs created in the US were created in Texas" spiel that has become a mantra for his bid for the Republican nomination for President, however, if you look deeper into this job creating powerhouse, it turns out that there is a lot of smoke and mirrors coupled with a bit of chest-pounding going on down in the Lone Star State.

“Since June of 2009, Texas is responsible for more than 40 percent of all of the new jobs created in America. 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.”

Texas has experienced rapid population growth. In the last decade, Texas is reporting population growth of 20.6% amounting to 4.2 million people soaking in the Texan sun. This huge growth in population is directly attributable to an increase in the http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/census/2011-02-17-texas-census_N.htm]hispanic population accounting for 65% of the state's growth putting hispanics just under non-hispanic whites in terms of population. Many predict that hispanics will easily be the majority in Texas the next time the census rolls around which will no doubt bring new issues to the forefront in Texas as the old guard isn't going to like giving up its seat of power.

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This rapid population growth is a double-edged sword so to speak. With population growth comes a growth in economic activity as these people will undoubtedly come with increased purchasing. However, it also comes with an increase in the overall labor force which is a great thing...if there are jobs to supply to them.

That's where the true kernel of this thread comes in. Just like Perry's budget used stimulus money to hide a looming deficit which is now approaching $27 billion with a debt reaching over $222 billion, apparently, the "Texas Miracle" is nothing more than a game with numbers.

While Texas IS creating jobs, those jobs tend to be lower paid w/o benefits and simply aren't enough to keep up with the growth in labor force; a problem that many critics of the national situation like to bring up. Texas is now number one in the nation for states with the highest percentage of workers paid at minimum wage or lower. Even while Perry is touting his state's job creation, he is overlooking the fact that the Texas unemployment rate has increased from 7.7% to 8.0% even as the national rate was slowly declining. Between 2008-2010, Massachusetts beat Texas in job creation. In fact, since the peak of unemployment in October 2009, Texas has had the worst job creation in the nation which looks even worst if you just compare it to states that are creating jobs. Texas is dead last in job creation when you account for the increase in the labor force.

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I wonder why we don't hear that paraded around the various news outlets?

"But wait! There's More!" - A job's a job, right? Well, yeah. A low paying/low benefit job is better in most circumstances than no pay for no job, however, along with the lower paying/lower benefits jobs that are being easily outpaced by additions to the labor force, there's also a little espoused dirtysecret to these magnificent job numbers as touted by Perry... MOST of them were government jobs.

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That's right, "small government" Texas accounted for 47% of the increase in government jobs NATIONALLY between 2007 and 2010! Perry leaves that out of this glowing report of Texas's economic situation. That same Stimulus Act that Perry loves to complain about - hell, that Perry voiced the possibility of Texas seceding from the US about - helped Perry pump up his job numbers AND fill a gap in the state budget:

"Turns out Texas was the state that depended the most on those very stimulus funds to plug nearly 97% of its shortfall for fiscal 2010, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.”​

It's ok though, Perry is a Texan politician, after Bush I and Bush II, we don't really expect the Texocrats to do anything but lie to us, right? Texans should go over their books with a fine tooth comb, they may just find that an economic bomb has been dropped in their laps by a Governor who seems to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor Bush in terms of creating economic "growth".

 

That's interesting...

I'm wondering if Perry's Immigration Policy will square with his Jobs policy.

 

I don't think you understand Todd.

Perry is talking about jobs that were created or "saved". The ones that were lost do not matter. This guy would make a great president.

 

Government jobs and minimum wage jobs. One being an enemy of true conservatives, the other being the demise of the middle class. Yeah, Perry seems like a great candidate.

 

Who do you want doing the minimum wage jobs Mugabe? please tell.

 

Unlike you,I live here .The past 12 months,Texas added 253,600 jobs,these are non-Government "private sector" jobs.
Whether they are minimum wage or not,jobs are jobs.
Its been 2 1/2 years,where are the all the non-Government jobs promised by Obama?
todd,youve been proven wrong time and time again.This shouldnt even be in the Current Events section.You and your Liberal friends have now resorted to flame baiting and trolling which is no surprise since that is all you have when your messiah Obama is sinking and has no good record of his own to run on.

 

High school kids. No adult in their 30s and 40's should ever work for min wage.

 

1) You haven't addressed the issue presented by Todd.

2) You throw out accusations.

Do you have material to fairly criticize with friend?

 

It's not rocket science, Cons. A rise in minimum wage jobs is a bad thing. It's more than likely correlated to a reduction in the middle class.

 

yeah,the Liberal hero,big mouth Ed Shultz had to resort to editing Rick Perry to look racist,blow hard Matthews compared Perry to Bull Conner,and insulted the way he looks and dresses(like Matthews has room to talk about looks)
This is only proving Perry is striking FEAR into the Left and will run on a smear campaign ,which is the only way in hell Obozo can win.

 

At least he wasn't stupid enough to put his buddy on the job creation board to watch him offshore jobs from his own company.

Or run up a 14 trillion dollar debt.

Good guy you've got there.

 

That was addressed in the OP. There's even a colorful chart that I'm not so surprised to find that you apparently missed.

Lol, at best a mediocre right-wing tirade. I only give it a 6 or so because you didn't manage to fit in abortion, the gays and/or what dress Michelle Obama wore today. You know, the important issues...

 

Really now? Not even if it's the difference between not working and working?

I started at $5/hr working for a book store in 1997 at age 34. Minimum wage was $5. I was making $12.50 a year later. I left the company after 5 years making $22/hour.

That job and the pay + benefits never would have happened if I didn't take the initial $5/hour position.

Getting a job and your foot in the door is half the battle.

 

How do you know the people who have these jobs are in their 30s and 40s?

 

Again, I will ask. Who do you want doing these jobs Mugabe?

It can only be a few choices

1) American citizens
2) illegal immigrants
3) done overseas by people of another country.

so...whats your answer?

 

Wow, you have low standards for Americans. I, on the other hand, want Americans to earn a more prosperous career. I don't want Americans to settle for minimum wage (which is nearly impossible to live on). Minimum wage jobs aren't the answer.

 

yeah,youre right,they should just sit on their fat Liberal butts and collect a check from the Government,or hold a "will work for food" sign on a street corner instead,right?
Believe it or not,there are people that have no choice but to take whatever job they can find.But you wouldnt understand that.
This is what makes Conservatives and Libs different.We believe in "self dependence",while the Left believes in "Government Dependence".Off the backs of the working folks,of course.
Like always,you fail

 

Anything posited by progressive leftists...especially those who parrot "data" compiled by Think Progress should be looked upon with a juandiced eye.

 

My, my, my.... would you look at the utter desperation in the above posts

Protip, folks -- when 'your' guy is pwned as badly as Perry was in the OP, your best bet is to leave the thread alone and hope it slides off the front page as fast as possible... for what you've posted above only makes it worse. I mean, a sharp kindergarten debate team could tear that crap to shreds

 

I want them to earn also.

Get a job, and work your ass off on overtime and trying to get promoted.

that is the American way.

They aren't the answer, but they are a start.

 

Nice rant. Completely ignores the information presented and substitutes right-wing rhetorical garbage for facts but who am I to judge?

 

That way *******s think they have won by spreading their falsehoods and half-truths. Gotcha.

 

Yup. Do a good job, get a promotion. Rubio is absolutely correct. The answer isn't raising taxes, it's creating taxpayers.

People rarely stay at minimum wage unless they are screw ups in the first place.

 

That's bull. You don't have a right be paid more than minimum wage. That's the problem with liberal philosophy. You think you're owed something just because you were born.

 

I'll put Obama's record against Perry's record anytime you like chuckles.

Just say the word....

Don't worry. Its not expected of you to actually back up your bs