Recession Revving Up In Amarillo

Amarillo Mayor Debra McCartt and Texas Governor Rick Perry would like for us to believe the recession is not affecting Amarillo and Texas. But while Texas may have held out a little longer than some other states, it is now falling victim to the recession.

According to newly released statistics from the Texas Workforce Commission, the unemployment rate has risen in Texas and now sits at 6.8%. There's no way to sugar-coat that number. It's just way too high, and will probably get much worse. TWC chairman Tom Pauken said, “The national economic crisis is beginning to have a serious, negative impact on our Texas economy."

While not yet nearing 7%, the Amarillo unemployment rate is also rising pretty fast. The TWC says the unemployment rate here has risen from 3.7% in December 2008 to 4.6% in January 2009. That's a jump of nearly a full percentage point in just one month. There are 1500 more people unemployed today than there was a year ago.

That's a lot for a city the size of Amarillo. Don't let the clowns in city and state government fool you. The recession is here and it's going to get a lot nastier before it gets better.