Houston defies predictions and adds jobs

Houston Chronicle:

As local layoff announcements mount, it’s the sort of news that is hard to fathom: The Houston area added jobs at a faster year-over-year clip in December than it did in November, according to the Texas Workforce Commission.

The commission said Friday that area employers created 57,300 new jobs in December compared with a year earlier, a gain of 2.2  percent.

The numbers were unexpected, especially because the year-over-year gain of 54,300 jobs in November already was running at a robust 2.1 percent.

“I don’t believe it,” said Barton Smith, director of the University of Houston’s Institute for Regional Forecasting. He pointed to Schlumberger’s announcement Friday that the world’s largest oil field services company was cutting more jobs internationally — it’s already laying off up to 100 workers in Houston — because of reduced exploration and production activity.

“I think that’s the Houston that is unfolding right now,” said Smith, who expects a slumping energy industry will lead to significant job losses in oil field equipment manufacturing, a key local industry.

“It’s bad news for Houston,” he said.

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I guess those looking for bad news can find it, but the report of the job growth is definitely not bad news. It would be interesting to know what sectors of the Houston economy are adding jobs.