AUSTIN – The continuing decline in Texas’ unemployment rate provides further validation of the Texas Model, according to the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
Texas’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 6.9 percent in April 2012, down from 7 percent in March 2012 and from 8 percent one year ago, according to the Texas Workforce Commission’s latest employment report. Texas’ unemployment rate remains the lowest of America’s five largest states and has been at or below the national average every month for more than five years.
“What is most impressive about Texas’ unemployment rate is how we’ve managed to do it,” said Talmadge Heflin, Director of the Foundation’s Center for Fiscal Policy. “While many large states have seen their labor forces decline over the last several years as their residents either move away or quit looking for work, Texas’ labor force has increased sharply as people come to Texas looking for jobs. During the last year, for every person added to Texas’ labor force, Texas had added roughly two new jobs.”
“Texas’ program of low taxes and spending, reasonable regulations, and a sound civil justice system remains the best approach to achieve economic growth and prosperity,” said Chuck DeVore, the Foundation’s Senior Fellow for Fiscal Policy.
The Honorable Talmadge Heflin is Director of the Center for Fiscal Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Heflin served 11 terms in the Texas House and chaired the Appropriations Committee in 2003, leading the Legislature’s successful efforts to close a $10 billion budget deficit without a tax increase.
The Honorable Chuck DeVore is a Senior Fellow for Fiscal Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin.
Primary website: www.TexasPolicy.com
Facebook page: www.Facebook.com/TexasPublicPolicyFoundation
Twitter feed: www.Twitter.com/TPPF
– 30 –
“