Economist predicts significant job growth in Tyler

TYLER — Texas has seen a rapid population growth in the last year, with more people wanting to move to the Lone Star State and East Texas, according to our news partner KETK. “Basically that means you are going to have more people, which means more workers, more ability to compete,” said Dr. Ray Perryman, economist and CEO of The Perryman Group. Perryman spoke on Thursday at the 40th Annual Perryman Economic Outlook Conference. The outlook predicts economic trends for the entire United States, Texas and East Texas. Perryman said that expanding industries in the Tyler area are creating slightly more opportunities for work when compared to the rest of the state and nation. “We’re looking for the output in Texas to grow just a little bit faster than Tyler, but the job growth to be a little bit faster in Tyler than in the state,” said Dr. Perryman. He added that Tyler is seeing an increase in jobs, twice the national average since the pandemic. Dr. Perryman says all the help-wanted signs are a good thing.

“A lot of people quitting their jobs, you might think that’s a negative thing, that’s actually telling you there’s some really good opportunities out there in the economy,” said Dr. Perryman. According to Perryman, Tyler has done a great job of investing in reasons for people to come to Tyler with the new UT Tyler Medical School, the new W.T. Brookshire Conference Center, additional hotels, restaurants and schools. “I really hope people can get a sense of just how important the investments that have been made in this community in life sciences for the past 20 or 30 years,” said Dr. Perryman.

Around 20 years ago, Perryman predicted a good economic year for 2004 in East Texas.

A packet from the forecast said that it’s notable that the United States economy has continued to grow despite recent challenges and that the Perryman Group’s “latest projections indicate that growth is likely to continue (barring a major escalation in the Middle East.)”