Solid growth ahead for Houston economy, forecast says

The comeback of the oil and gas industry has helped fuel Houston's economic comeback. The comeback of the oil and gas industry has helped fuel Houston's economic comeback. Photo: Steve Gonzales, Staff Photographer / Houston Chronicle Photo: Steve Gonzales, Staff Photographer / Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Solid growth ahead for Houston economy, forecast says 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The Houston economy has rebounded from the oil downturn that began in 2014 and the main economic indicators show solid growth lies ahead, according to analysis by a University of Houston economist.

"We're back," said Bill Gilmer, an economist with the university's Bauer College of Business. "It's a great turnaround after several years of suffering from no growth."

Job growth remained flat since the downturn through most of 2017, but 2018 has had solid growth of at least 65,000 new jobs, a figure that Gilmer expects will repeat itself next year.

The Houston region has now moved beyond the positive effects it experienced from Hurricane Harvey that sparked thousands of construction of service-sector jobs and billions of dollars in spending to rebuild the damage caused by the storm.

The local economy is now much more closely linked to the U.S. economy, as well as to the price of oil, which has largely stabilized.

"We've successfully turned the corner," Gilmer said.