Dallas and Houston, the region's two largest markets, are suffering from a double whammy. Turmoil in the energy market and the telecom crash have created an enormous stockpile of vacant office space. According to Grubb & Ellis, Dallas has one of the nation's worst office vacancy rates — 25 percent for downtown and suburban office space. Still embarrassed by the Enron debacle, Houston isn't doing much better. Houston's job losses are moderating, but the energy market is oh-so-slow compared to its 1980s heyday. There's a major construction project underway in Lake Charles, La., the nation's largest receiving and shipping point for natural gas, where Trunkline LNG Co. is beginning a $166-million expansion. The region was riding high after it began diversifying into telecommunications in the '80s, but now it suffers with the rest of the nation waiting for that business segment to recover. Home building in Texas remains a bright spot, with the Dallas, Austin and Houston residential markets among the nation's leaders.
ELECTRICAL WHOLESALERS' SALES
(in millions of dollars)EW Estimates | | Final
1999 | Final
2000 | Final
2001 | Final
2002 | Forecast
2003 | Forecast
2004 |
|---|
| West South Central | 8,321.0 | 8,474.2 | 8,588.1 | 8,627.8 | 9,159.0 | 9,657.5 |
| Arkansas | 418.1 | 425.8 | 431.6 | 433.6 | 460.3 | 485.3 |
| Louisiana | 1,175.5 | 1,197.1 | 1,213.2 | 1,218.8 | 1,293.9 | 1,364.3 |
| Oklahoma | 587.6 | 598.4 | 606.5 | 609.3 | 646.8 | 682.0 |
| Texas | 6,139.7 | 6,252.7 | 6,336.8 | 6,366.1 | 6,758.0 | 7,125.9 |
EMPLOYMENT STATISTICSActual | in thousands | | EC | M | C | G |
|---|
| West South Central | 98,130 | 1,425.7 | 6,906.8 | 2,379.1 |
| Arkansas | 4,970 | 207.7 | 512.7 | 180.7 |
| Fayetteville-Springdale MSA | 847* | 29.9 | 79.3 | 19.6 |
| Fort Smith MSA | 302 | 26.2 | 45.4 | 10.4 |
| Little Rock-North Little Rock MSA | 2,305* | 25.4 | 156.2 | 59.1 |
| Pine Bluff MSA | 177* | 7.0 | 15.1 | 8.0 |
| Louisiana | 16,596 | 157.2 | 929.4 | 368.2 |
| Alexandria MSA | 1,844 | 3.0 | 28.4 | 13.2 |
| Baton Rouge MSA | 5,551* | 21.4 | 146.4 | 60.0 |
| Houma-Thibodaux MSA | 301 | 7.3 | 35.7 | 15.1 |
| Lafayette MSA | 1,591* | 11.5 | 86.7 | 22.6 |
| Lake Charles MSA | 415 | 9.7 | 41.6 | 13.3 |
| Monroe MSA | 682 | 8.0 | 38.1 | 13.1 |
| New Orleans MSA | 3,451* | 41.8 | 339.4 | 106.3 |
| Shreveport MSA | 1,010 | 14.9 | 87.3 | 31.8 |
| Oklahoma | 9,281 | 148.7 | 718.5 | 273.3 |
| Enid MSA | 156 | 2.2 | 11.6 | 3.8 |
| Lawton MSA | 188 | 3.5 | 16.9 | 10.2 |
| Oklahoma City MSA | 3,034 | 42.5 | 284.8 | 100.2 |
| Tulsa MSA | 3,377 | 45.5 | 200.1 | 41.7 |
| Texas | 67,283 | 912.1 | 4,746.2 | 1,556.9 |
| Abilene MSA | 420 | 2.8 | 32.1 | 9.2 |
| Amarillo MSA | 351 | 8.3 | 50.3 | 16.8 |
| Austin MSA | 5,685 | 59.1 | 327.5 | 141.9 |
| Beaumont-Port Arthur MSA | 1,415 | 20.0 | 76.3 | 25.6 |
| Brazoria PMSA | 664 | 12.5 | 29.5 | 15.0 |
| Brownsville-Harlingen MSA | 675* | 9.9 | 63.8 | 24.6 |
| Bryan-College Station MSA | 496 | 5.2 | 31.9 | 29.7 |
| Corpus Christi MSA | 1,152 | 11.4 | 84.5 | 29.0 |
| Dallas PMSA | 15,760 | 204.6 | 1,017.6 | 226.4 |
| El Paso MSA | 771* | 27.1 | 125.1 | 55.8 |
| Fort Worth-Arlington PMSA | 5,319 | 97.3 | 388.7 | 103.2 |
| Galveston-Texas City PMSA | 553* | 7.1 | 41.6 | 24.6 |
| Houston PMSA | 17,299* | 193.1 | 1,058.6 | 272.7 |
| Killeen-Temple MSA | 486* | 8.0 | 50.7 | 29.1 |
| Laredo MSA | 291 | 1.1 | 36.1 | 15.4 |
| Longview-Marshall MSA | 477* | 14.4 | 46.7 | 11.3 |
| Lubbock MSA | 882* | 5.7 | 64.5 | 26.1 |
| McAllen-Edinburg-Mission MSA | 658 | 9.1 | 90.5 | 40.9 |
| Odessa MSA | 1,076 | 5.9 | 48.0 | 17.0 |
| San Angelo MSA | 475 | 3.9 | 22.1 | 8.8 |
| San Antonio MSA | 4,673 | 45.5 | 416.9 | 128.1 |
| Sherman-Denison MSA | 771* | 7.0 | 23.7 | 5.8 |
| Texarkana MSA | 363* | 5.4 | 27.2 | 9.9 |
| Tyler MSA | 313 | 10.7 | 47.9 | 11.4 |
| Victoria MSA | 173 | 2.7 | 18.7 | 6.3 |
| Waco MSA | 475* | 14.2 | 50.6 | 16.9 |
| Wichita Falls MSA | 278* | 7.4 | 27.9 | 13.1 |
