Hurricane Harvey gave unexpected boost to Houston economy

Hurricane Harvey gave the Houston economy a bigger than expected boost in 2017 as spending related to the recovery generated jobs in construction, retail and other sectors, according to revised data released Friday by the Texas Workforce Commission.

Houston added nearly 63,000 jobs last year, well above initial estimates of about 46,000, according to the revised data. As billions of dollars in insurance payments and federal disaster aid poured into the region after the epic flooding, analysts said, residents spent it at retailers to replace damaged household goods and hired contractors to repair damaged homes.

"It looks like last year was a lot better than we initially thought," said Parker Harvey, principal economist for Workforce Solutions, which provides job services in the 13-county region.

RELATED: Houston sheds 25,000 jobs in wake of Harvey

Electrician Brad Cochran changes electric receptacle for Tracy Wilson's flooded and gutted house in Houston. On the same day, Wilson met a representative from a sub-contractor for PREPS, which is a FEMA housing program that provides up to $20,000 in repair work for flooded homes, to discuss rebuilding her house. less Electrician Brad Cochran changes electric receptacle for Tracy Wilson's flooded and gutted house in Houston. On the same day, Wilson met a representative from a sub-contractor for PREPS, which is a FEMA housing ... more Photo: Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle Photo: Yi-Chin Lee/Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 117 Caption Close Hurricane Harvey gave unexpected boost to Houston economy 1 / 117 Back to Gallery

The U.S. Labor Department revises state level employment statistics annually, based on additional data that employers report over time. The revisions also show that local economy was weaker in 2015 and 2016 than estimated earlier. Instead of small job gains, the region shed jobs in each of those years, 2,500 in 2015 and 2,200 in 2016, as it struggled through the worst oil bust in a generation.

"While oil was stabilizing at the end of 2016,," said Harvey, "we were still losing oil and gas related jobs."

The workforce commission also reported Friday that Texas added 16,000 jobs in January, after gaining just 400 in December and 54,000 in November. Texas added 240,500 jobs over the past year, an increase of about 2 percent.

The state unemployment rate rose to 4 percent in January, from 3.9 percent in December and its record low of 3.8 percent in November. The U.S. unemployment rate in January was 4.1 percent.

In January, the Houston area's unemployment rate fell to 4.8 percent from 5.7 percent in January 2017, according to labor force data. The region added about 64,000 jobs from the previous January, a growth rate of 2.2 percent.