MIDLAND, TX (KWES) - The 2018 State of the Economy was held at the Midland County Horseshoe arena Thursday. Community leaders throughout the region came together to talk about the past, present, and future of the Permian Basin economy.
“The oil and gas industry. Everybody knows that strong connection, really strong connection, in fact, this area, metro area economy is probably more connected to a single based industry than any other metro-area-economy in the country,” said Karr Ingham, economic analyst and president and owner of InghamEcon, LLC.
Ingham also says that the Permian Basin is climbing out of the hole after a 2-year downfall from 2016.
“In 2018 is really the year we surpassed all prior peaks, all prior records in terms of the indexes that I do here, in terms of employment, in terms of spending auto sales all of these things,” Ingham said.
An example of the steady local economy is the unemployment rate which is lower than the states.
The unemployment rate in the Permian Basin is 2.9%, and 4.1% in Texas.
The lower unemployment rate also has people out spending money, which brings in more revenue from sales tax.
Another example of the steady economy is housing permits in both Midland and Odessa were higher this year, according to Ingham.
Next year, the prediction for the local economy is a hopeful one if crude oil stays steady.
“That’s contingent on crude oil prices because when push comes to shove and you boil it down to that one thing crude oil prices determine the economic outcomes in Midland, and Odessa and in the Permian,” Ingham said.
