Houston Job Gains Steam Past 160% of Those Lost to Recession

October 4, 2012

The Houston market president for Comerica Bank hailed the city's job growth in a speech to the Houston Technology Center. But he said the region faces some serious headwinds.

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J. Downey Bridgwater said he often hears the Texas economy referred to as an island of prosperity in a sea of uncertainty. Bridgwater extended the metaphor, calling Houston's economy "a mountain of prosperity on that island."

"It's been approximately four years since Houston entered the recession, in which we lost 117,000 jobs. And through July of this year, we've recovered 187,000 jobs, or 160% of the jobs lost during the recession."

The job gains from August, announced just as the HTC conference got under way, pushed Houston's job gains up a further 3%.

Bridgwater ran off a list of worries facing the US as a whole. He cited Europe's debt crises, slowing growth in China, and the looming tax hikes and spending cuts known as "the fiscal cliff." Quoting Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher, he likened the US economy to "the best looking horse in the glue factory."

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