Governor Rick Perry was encouraging and hopeful as he gave a speech at the North Houston Economic Outlook Annual Symposium on Wednesday, as he called Houston “a city that gets more attractive every year.” His speech recognized Houston’s strong economic environment and he urged Houstonians to continue in their hard work and commitment.

“Texas leads the nation in so many positive categories, from Fortune 500 companies to job creation,” Perry said, “we owe it to our citizens to continue our economic success by adhering to our proven fiscal disciplines.”

Texas is a leader. This was a point that Perry emphasized as he spoke about the Lone Star State and it’s strong economy. By that leadership Texas remains the top exporting state in the nation for the eighth straight year with more than $163 billion in exports for 2009. The exporting industries shipped mostly to Mexico, Canada, China, the Netherlands and Korea with goods mostly in the areas of computers and electronics, chemicals, machinery, petroleum and coal, and transportation equipment.

Perry acknowledged the hard work of Texans and the disciplined leadership at the state level that enables Houstonians to compete for jobs, investment and business, all contributing to Houston’s success. He noted the accolades Houston has received including the 2009 Label of ‘Best City to Get Ahead’ by Forbes and the name of ‘the Number One Metropolitan Area’ by Site Selection Magazine.

But it’s not just “Best Place” recognitions that make Houston a great city. The reality is there are facts, hard statistics showing how Houston, and Texas as a whole, fares among the nation. According to Perry, “In October and November of 2009, Texas recorded the largest over-the-month increases in employment of any state in the country.” He also shared that “as of the latest report, we still have the lowest unemployment rate of the nation’s ten largest states; a rate that has stayed about two points below the national average for a while.” “Texas is the only top 10 state that has more jobs today than before things started heading south about three years ago and we produced more private sector jobs than any other state over the last 10 years,” he concluded.

With such a strong economic environment, leadership among the nation in many areas including exports, and a steady housing market, Houston will continue to stay in the lead.

To read Perry’s speech please visit http://governor.state.tx.us/news/