Houston Business Journal

 

　

 

Date: Tuesday, November 15, 2011, 10:17am CST

 

　

 

Texas could return to peak employment levels reached before the recession as soon as January 2012, according to a report from IHS Global Insight.

 

Texas may even surpass those levels, said IHS’ chief regional economist

 

 

Diffley said there are two main reasons for Texas’ success: the security of the oil and energy market and the lack of a housing recession.

 

“Oil and energy continues to be a factor (in job growth) and there was an earlier recovery in the high-tech sector in Austin and Dallas,” Diffley said. “There is no doubt that [job growth] will continue to improve.”

 

Other states expected to get back to pre-recession employment numbers between 2012 and 2013 include: Louisiana, Oklahoma, New York, Massachusetts, West Virginia and Vermont. The majority of states are not expected to return to pre-recession levels until 2014 or later.