This article by Nik Rajkovic was originally published by KTRH News Radio.
Texas continues to lead the nation's economic recovery from COVID, boasting possibly the healthiest economy in the world.
Texas was already bursting at the seems before COVID, now it's one of just a handful of states creating more jobs than it lost during the pandemic, with a flood of new residents fleeing lockdown states.
"What happened during the pandemic is it accelerated and solidified trends of people and jobs moving to Texas," says Glenn Hamer, president and CEO of the Texas Association of Business.
"Gov. Greg Abbott did a very good job of balancing life and livelihood and that's been rewarded by Texas having the strongest economy in the country, and arguably the most functional economy on the entire planet."
Texas in 2021, boasted the world's ninth largest economy overall.
"It's broader and deeper than anywhere else in the country in terms of the positive effects of people and jobs moving to this state during the pandemic," says Hamer.