Austin: Recovery Picking Up Steam?
01.24.2012
We’ve been back in Austin for nearly three weeks, and driving around it’s hard not to notice all the new restaurants and bars. Since we were only gone for 15 months, and we don’t exactly get out as much as we once did, we wondered if this was all in our heads. Did our monitoring of Austin’s explosion of foodiness from Washington this past year affect our memories? Or is activity really picking up this much?
Turns out, we’re not crazy. And, if you believe that discretionary spending is a reasonable proxy for overall economic health, Austin may finally be emerging from the post-recession slump.
According to the latest jobs report from the Texas Workforce Commission, job growth in restaurants and bars in the Austin metro area jumped 5.8% from December 2010 to December 2011, which was the second largest increase since 1999.
Of course, I had to field test this finding. If you’re into beer, and especially IPAs, check out Hopfields. One of many great local establishments added during 2011.
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About Civic Analytics
Brian Kelsey is an Austin-based economic development consultant and former senior policy advisor at the U.S. Economic Development Administration in Washington, DC. Civic Analytics is his blog about data-driven analysis for understanding community and economic trends. Views expressed here are his own.
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