Texas business surges during Omicron, California lags

 Fox Business:

Texas’ economy is "surging" with no signs of slowing down as businesses in other states such as California voluntarily close during the spike in cases.

"With Christmas shopping jump-started by the early start of holiday promotional pricing weeks ahead of Black Friday, and despite supply chain clogs and household budgets pressured by rising prices for food and gasoline, consumer spending drove double-digit increases in receipts from retail trade," Republican Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar said, according to the Dallas Morning News.

Texas brought in more sales tax than ever before in December, hitting $3.6 billion. Texas recorded only four months before the pandemic when sales taxes collected $3 billion or more. Now, the state has recorded nine consecutive months, from April to December, of hitting or exceeding the benchmark.

TEXAS OFFERS BUSINESSES UNIQUE ADVANTAGES -- THEY ARE FREE TO SUCCEED: GOV. GREG ABBOTT

Hegar said consumers sent the Texas economy "surging" in all major sectors.

"But double-digit growth continued in receipts from home improvement and furniture stores, sporting goods and hobby stores, and online general merchandisers, segments boosted a year ago by pandemic spending patterns," Hegar said.

"Receipts from restaurants, another sector depressed a year ago, were also up sharply and well above pre-pandemic levels."

A budget analyst with the nonprofit policy institute Every Texan said Hegar’s report proves he’s been "very conservative" in his revenue projections. She said the state will end up with $2 billion more in sales tax than Hegar’s projected $38.6 billion of consumption tax.

"If things keep going the way they’re going in the first four months of the fiscal year 2022, we’ll end with a couple billion more in just sales tax alone," analyst Eva DeLuna Castro told the Dallas Morning News.
...

The California shutdown gave them only a slightly lower rate of Omicron cases.  Considering it has been a much less lethal variant the California economy is paying a heavy price.  There is a reason the number of people moving to California has steeply declined and those moveing to Texas have increased.

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