Page 12 - NBIZ Magazine April 2022

HOUSTON

ECONOMIC

SNAPSHOT

By Patrick Duffy and Lisa Bridges

Houston Highlights
The Houston MSA 2021 population grew by 467,000 during
the last five years to over 7.2 million and is projected to grow
by almost 589,000 over the next five years. Houston’s racial
diversity is twice as high as the national average. Additionally,
Houston’s unemployment rate and job growth dramatically
improved between 2020 and 2021, recovering most jobs lost
during the pandemic.
The U.S. and North America rig count has improved, but is
about half of historic counts. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude
prices began to increase back to pre-pandemic prices during 2021.
Currently, with demand outpacing supply due to many economic
factors, including the Russian and Ukrainian war, prices are
expected to increase at an accelerated rate.
Natural gas prices are higher now than they’ve been over the
last few years due to colder than normal temperatures, but the
EIA forecasts prices to stay relatively flat during 2022.
Airport passenger traffic rose in 2021, as did exports, and area
homes sales set a record.
Houston’s GDP fell as expected between 2019 and 2020 but was
set to recover in 2021. Unfortunately, the local GDP number will
not be released until December 2022.

12 NBIZ ■ April 2022