Texas Economy Is Still Hurting

Although the state Republican leadership would like for everyone to believe that the Texas economy is improving, there is little doubt that the state is still in the firm grip of the recession. If there's any doubt in your mind, just look at the newest sales tax figures.

According to Texas Comptroller Susan Combs (pictured), the state collected $1.46 billion in sales taxes for March of this year. That may sound like a lot of money, but all it proves is that Texas is a large state with a huge economy. That figure is actually 7.8% lower than in March of 2009, and means that the sales tax generated has been falling for more than a year now.

Combs tried to paint a rosy picture by noting that the drop in sales taxes were back in single digits now, where the year before that each month's drop had been in double digits. She says that shows the figures are tapering off as the economy improves. That is not only false, but it is more than a bit disingenuous.

She might have a point if she was comparing the last two months to months in a normal economy. But the harsh fact is that both February and March of 2009 were recession months -- not normal months. Since we are now comparing current months against other recession months, it is not a good sign that we are still experiencing revenue drops of 7.8% and more.

The sad fact is that even if we have showed a zero drop in revenue compared to March 2009, it would still mean we were double digits down from where it would be in a normal economy. The fact that it dropped another 7.8% shows the economy is still badly hurting and the state is not yet entering a recovery period.

That is no surprise, since the state has yet to start producing a significant rise in job creation. Although the state gained a few thousand jobs in the last employment report, they were just a tiny drop in the bucket when you consider the size of the Texas economy.

It almost seems like our Republican leaders think the state's economy will recover just by wishful thinking. It won't. There won't be anything like a real recovery until the employment situation makes a radical improvement. Jobless people and people afraid of losing their jobs are not going to go on a buying spree and jumpstart the economy.