Over 71,000 new jobs forecasted for next year according to the Greater Houston Partnership | Houston Public Media

The Greater Houston Partnership is forecasting over 71,000 new jobs for the region in the upcoming year, according to their latest report released this month.

By comparison, the Houston region has created around 60,000 jobs over the past 12 months as of October.

Patrick Jankowski who authored the report is the Senior Vice President and Chief Economist at the Greater Houston Partnership. On Houston Matters Thursday, he said almost all sectors will benefit from this growth.

“We’re gonna see growth in every sector but one, that’s information,” he said. “But the sector that’s going to grow the strongest is going to be healthcare. Healthcare is benefitting from the fact we have a strong population growth. We have a hundred thousand babies every year, they’re gonna need healthcare. One of the fastest-growing segments of the population is actually over the age of 65. As you age, you tend to need more healthcare.”

Jankowski said construction is also expected to have major growth in the upcoming year. He said there are more construction contracts for projects next year than there have been in the past six or seven years.

“I’ll be honest, that’s one I’m still scratching my head over. I thought with higher interest rates and some other challenges we’ve seen in commercial real estate, we wouldn’t see very much construction activity,” he said.

Restaurants and bars, as well as government offices are also expected to grow because of the region’s growing population. Jankowski said that similarly, those in professional or technical services like engineers or lawyers would also benefit from a growing economy. According to the December 2024 report, a recession is unlikely as long as there is no “black swan” event, rare and unpredictable events, like the pandemic.

The Greater Houston Partnership forecast is determined by factors that affected growth in its previous year, whether those factors will still affect the upcoming year, and how the economy will look on a national level among other things. This will be the last economic forecast Jankowski will present, but the partnership is looking to continue the forecast.

“Every economist has their own approach based on their understanding of the data, based on their background, based on what they see as important,” Jankowski said.

The full report can be found below.