REGIONAL DISPARITY
T
he local economies of Texas are diverse. Employment and income growth particularly since
the depths of the Great Recession in 2009 have varied widely across local communities
within the Lone Star state. While some counties experienced slow growth similar to the U.S.
as a whole, other counties witnessed record growth partly as a result of shale oil production.
Despite rapid development in the Eagle Ford Shale across much of South Texas, economic
performance during the past five years has been quite uneven across its local communities.
It is no surprise that those counties atop the Eagle Ford formation experienced the strongest
employment growth. Still five counties in the region lost jobs between 2010 and 2014.
Sources: Bureau of Economic Analysis, and author’s calculations.
Annual Review of South Texas Economy
ECONOMIC TRENDS
. . .economic
performance
during the
past five
years has
been quite
uneven. . .
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