What We Owe 'Saudi Texas' and the Fracking Boom

The chart above shows a most amazing economic phenomenon: Since December 2007 when the Great Recession started, Texas civilian employment has increased by 12.4% and by more than 1.36 million jobs, from just over 11 million jobs in December 2007 to 12.37 million in October of this year (see blue line in chart). In contrast, civilian employment in the other 49 states without Texas is still 0.26% and more than 350,000 jobs below the December 2007 level (see red line in chart) — there were 134.9 million non-Texas jobs in October vs. 135.26 million in December 2007.