Page 19 - NBIZ October 2020

GOVERNMENT
Job losses in the public sector are overstated. Every
June and July, the industry drops 20,000 to 25,000 jobs
as school districts, community colleges and universities
close for the summer. Outside of public education, the
government sector appears to have shed about 4,000 jobs.
This sector’s employment outlook will depend on how
well tax collections hold up as the economy reopens.

A FALSE ASSUMPTION
The energy job losses layered on top of the pandemic
losses have not made Houston worse off than other
metros. Houston is faring better than many of its peers.
Houston is the nation’s fifth-most populous metro.
One might assume Houston would rank fifth or higher in
jobs lost due to COVID shutdowns and the energy crunch.
Houston ranks tenth among its peers, with fewer layoffs
than less populous metros like Boston, Detroit, Miami,
Philadelphia and San Francisco.
Metro Houston has also recouped enough jobs to place
it closer to its pre-pandemic peak than most of its peers.
Houston ranks eighth out of 20 in that regard.
Why is energy not a more significant drag? For one,
going into the pandemic, employment in oil and gas jobs
was already at its lowest level in 15 years. Second, sectors
like finance and insurance, professional services and
health care have held up well, helping to mitigate the job
losses in energy. The question for Houston and the other
metros will be what jobs do come back when COVID is
finally behind us?

PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM
According to an analysis of U.S. Treasury Department
data by the Greater Houston Partnership, the Houston
region has received more than $9.4 billion in Paycheck
Protection Program (PPP) loan funds supporting more
than 700,000 local jobs. Restaurants, architecture firms,
engineering firms and building equipment contractors
topped the list of recipients.
Over half the loans were made to firms in the City
of Houston (8,441), with Spring, TX a distant second
(706) and Sugar Land, TX third (466). Three-fourths of
the loans (10,627) were made to firms in Harris County,
with Fort Bend second (1,176) and Montgomery County
third (1,098).
The analysis excluded loans of less than $150,000,
representing approximately 25 percent of the value of all
loans made in metro Houston. The U.S. Treasury does not
disclose data on loans below that level to the public. N

Patrick Jankowski is the senior vice-president of
research at Greater Houston Partnership. Mr. Jankowski
can be reached via email at pjankowski@houston.org.
September 2020 Economy at a Glance ©2020, Greater
Houston Partnership.

NBIZ ■ October2020 19