Things could be looking up for the Rio GrandeValley economy. This region, which traditionally has lagged behind most of the nation with respect to unemployment, poverty and economic growth, has almost kept pace in some metrics of economic development with the rest of Texas, which continues to outperform the rest of the country.
We trust the information encourages local government and economic development officials to continue working toward even more growth, and attract new business investment.
Our state led the country in job growth in 2022, setting records every month of the year. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported that the state added 650,100 new nonfarm payroll jobs, more than any other state, from December 2021 to December 2022. California was second with 621,400 new jobs. Overall, some 13.7 million had nonfarm jobs at the end of last year, compared to 13 million at the end of 2021, the BLS reported.
The news isn’t surprising for one of the nation’s largest states, and one that has long enjoyed new investment and attracted businesses to relocate here from states that have higher tax rates and operating costs. But the numbers reflect a job growth rate of 5% — it’s the only state in the country to reach 5% growth.
Locally, the numbers offer cause for hope. According to the BLS, nonfarm job growth in the McAllen-Edinburg metropolitan statistical area was 4.8%, near the record-setting state numbers. That number reflects some 13,600 new jobs in the area. Brownsville-Harlingen MSA growth was a more modest 3%, an increase of 4,500 new jobs.
State unemployment also led the nation, dropping below 4% at the end of the year. Valley numbers, which always have been much higher than state and national averages, showed jobless rates of 7.8% for the McAllen area and 6.6% in CameronCounty. It’s worth noting, however, that it wasn’t that long ago that Valley unemployment rates were in the double digits.
Offering greater reason for hope, the greatest job gains statewide were in the education and healthcare industries toward the end of the year, accounting for 40% of the new jobs in December alone. With the continued growth of Valley institutes of higher education, particularly the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine, those are the fields that offer the most hope for growth in south Texas.
This news shouldn’t just encourage local economic development officials. New jobs in the Valley mean more opportunities for local workers. More importantly they reflect a continued diversification of the local economy that should help the region better withstand downturns in specific areas of the economy.
It should inspire local students to further their education in order to increase their options for future employment, as well as workers who are willing to retrain or seek professional certification in order to pursue new careers.
Economic snapshots continue to show that the Rio GrandeValley remains behind the state and nation in most economic areas. A look at the positive trends, however, offers hope that this region eventually will be able to escape its long-held inclusion among the nation’s least developed areas.
