A recent study revealed that Texas would suffer huge job losses in a recession triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
New York-based SmartAsset conducted the study, which focused on jobs, cities and states likely to be the hardest hit by such a scenario. The study determined that Irving and Laredo would be the most vulnerable among cities in Texas.
To produce the study, the personal finance technology company analyzed data from Moody’s Analytics, IBISWorld and the U.S. Department of Labor to get a clear picture as to which 20 industries would likely be impacted by a recession. The company then found the mining, oil and gas; transportation and warehousing; administrative services and waste management; arts, entertainment and recreation; and accommodation and food services industries to be the highest risk.
Irving and Laredo are home to jobs in those high-risk industries, with the former counting Citi, Verizon, Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, Exxon Mobil, Michaels and the Irving Mall among its top employers.
According to recent employment data from the U.S. Department of Labor, the Texas economy dropped 51,000 jobs last month, making it the biggest single-month decline since the Great Recession of a decade ago.
The Houston Chronicle reported that the cancellation or postponement of large conferences and other events in Texas, in addition to local officials shuttering bars, restaurants and other non-essential businesses, attributed to the loss of jobs, but the March job losses only provide a glimpse of unemployment in the state.
SmartAsset said the study did not factor in localized case counts or take into account local or statewide responses.
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