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The Texas-Florida Connection
Hold Your Horses, Gov. Rick Scott
Can Florida emulate Texas in creating jobs? Here's a comparison.
Workforce
Dell manufacturing facility in Austin [Photo: Dell Inc.] |
Florida also may be better positioned to outcompete Texas and other states on the types of high-wage, new economy jobs that require a highly educated bilingual population. Florida metros tend to have higher numbers of educated immigrants or a good balance of high skill and low skill, according to the Brookings Institution. Texas metro areas tend to have larger percentages of low-skilled immigrant workers — in some cases nearly half the labor force.
Fewer retirees, more working-age residents and a surging population mean more organic job growth for Texas. But not all is the sort Florida should covet: 9.5% of the Texas hourly workforce is paid at or below minimum wage, tying it with Mississippi for the largest share of minimum-wage workers in the nation. In Florida, the share is 6.7%, closer to the national average of 6%.
Jobs Gained (Jan. 1 through June 30, 2011) Texas: 117,600 (highest jobs growth in the U.S.) Florida: 85,500 (third-highest jobs growth behind Texas and California) Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Unemployment Rate |
What do you think about the whole Florida -vs- Texas debate? Let us know, click to comment at the end of this article. |