Houston Economy...is it out of the recession?

[chris_ut]

In my field there were a lot of layoffs and pay cuts in late 08 to mid 09. Things seem to be back to normal now. Everyone is working and pay is back to what it was.

[pach84]

I haven't felt the recession either, but I know a few that have. Mostly support staff or RE related. Architects and designers got hit pretty hard.

People in the right field have actually doubled and tripled in pay over the past few years. 1099 and contract w2. They cut the fat and hire cheaper, young meat for support.

[HoustonRonnie]

Originally Posted by Dytdude

I want to know from the locals...not articles, magazines, websites...Do YOU FEEL as if Houston is out of the recession? What industry do you work in? Thanks!

By all definitions of a "recession", Houston wasn't in one to start with.

Just sayin'...

Ronnie

[SouthernBoy205]

I hope it gets better for all of you who have suffered from the recession.

[bamba_boy]

I'm in the energy industry and we've seen budget reductions, defferal of projects, etc. but no layoffs. I think most companies with a strong balance sheet are thinking long term and not making major cuts based off short term events like the recent deepwater Gulf Horizon blow-out (yeah, it's not just a "leak"). Also, you can see that in three or four years hopefully the damage will be mostly mitigated and the recession over and that combination should really spike oil prices and result in a real Houston boom.

They say that China, India and other emerging economies are rolling right over this recession anyway and should be a growing market for petroleum even in the short term. Remember that a GOM drilling freeze only affects a small part of the total energy industry in Houston. There are folks working on projects from Greenland to Australia in Houston area offices and tech-services and research people working on developing emerging technologies and R&D that will be applied all over the world and not on time-scales affected by present-day oil price or local ecological disasters.

Houston's Med Center and supporting medical-tech concerns also are growing and developing a more worldwide reach regardless of the current recession. Houston is doing very well if you're in the right industry and have good educations/skills. However, if you're in home/office building construction or supporting loan/appraisal/finance industries you might be thinking it's a full-blown depression. Even there we've been a lot more stable (low runup, low cratering) than places like Vegas, CA Inland Empire, Fl, etc.

[BoraTerra]

Was Houston ever in a recession? It seems like Houston has a lot more job openings than most other places. Thank God for oil.

[SouthernBoy205]

That's what it seemed to a lot of people.