Grid keeps humming during first wintry blast
The state’s power grid withstood its first wintry blast last week with no major outages as snow blanketed much of West and North Texas, and heavy rains hit Central and South Texas. The Texas Tribune reported that energy supply comfortably exceeded demand during the latest cold snap.
Limited outages unrelated to grid capacity were reported, particularly in far Northeast Texas. Temperatures have since returned this to normal for this time of year across most of the state.
Most of the snow fell in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and surrounding counties.
State sets employment records in 2024
Texas again broke all records for employment in 2024 as the state again led the nation in jobs added over the past 12 months.
“The No. 1 economy in America is built by Texans,” said Abbott. “Texas leads the nation in annual job creation and more Texans are working than ever before as we break record after record for total employment.”
The state’s workforce reached a new high of 15,536,100, while the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose a tenth of a point to 4.2%.
“After another month of job growth, the Texas labor force participation rate has reached a 10-year high, at 64.7 percent,” said Texas Workforce Commission Chairman Bryan Daniel. “This positive trend shows the strength of the Texas workforce, its employers, and its job seekers.”
Gary Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published a number of community newspapers in Texas during a 30-year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Cedar Park. Email: gborders@texaspress.com