With Texas facing hard times, four of the Dallas Fed's regional experts give an update on the state's economic performance in 2009, looking at the key areas of employment, manufacturing, housing and energy.

The Texas cities along the Mexican border have sustained relatively strong job growth in recent years. A key factor has been a booming health care industry, driven by rising population and the large share of the population covered by government-sponsored health insurance.

Our political leaders must summon the courage to pull up their socks and deal with our fiscal predicament in a way that corrects for the mismatch between future income streams and liabilities.

The 2007 Texas expansion was persistently underrated. While a national economic slowdown attracted headlines, the state's economy quietly grew at a rate that was Texas proud. ; State job growth of 3.1 percent last year was triple the nation's 1 percent - and exceeded the state's long-run average...

The Texas economy grew moderately in 2010, outperforming most other states. Jobs increased by 209,000, a growth rate of about 2 percent—near the state’s average pace since 1980. Strength in the high-tech and energy sectors was an important source of Texas’ economic might relative to other...

Texas exports rose 2.7 percent in real terms in the first six months of the year, fueled by a nascent economic recovery that surprised some shipping companies. Increased demand in the state and nation contributed to spikes in the cost of container, truck and rail freight shipments.