Survey finds optimism about Houston economy despite oil downturn

Houstonians remain surprisingly upbeat about the local economy despite this latest oil boom gone bust in the nation’s energy capital, according to a new poll by Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research. less Houstonians remain surprisingly upbeat about the local economy despite this latest oil boom gone bust in the nation’s energy capital, according to a new poll by Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban ... more Photo: Frommert, Greg, Dr. Stephen Klineberg / Rice University’s Kinder Institute For Urban Research Photo: Frommert, Greg, Dr. Stephen Klineberg / Rice University’s Kinder Institute For Urban Research Image 1 of / 42 Caption Close Survey finds optimism about Houston economy despite oil downturn 1 / 42 Back to Gallery

Houstonians remain surprisingly upbeat about the local economy despite this latest oil boom gone bust in the nation’s energy capital, according to a new poll by Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research.

Even with job cuts and belt-tightening across the energy sector, nearly seven in 10 people say the region provides good or excellent opportunities for work — the highest number since the full frenzy of a boom in 1982, said sociologist Stephen Klineberg, who has conducted the annual Houston Area Survey for more than 30 years.

The optimism, he said, reflects the increasingly diversified local economy, once so dependent on oil and gas that one of every seven people lost their jobs in the devastating bust of the 1980s. The economy is now built on many pieces, including the expanding Texas Medical Center and Port of Houston.

The price of crude oil was $58.58 per barrel on Wednesday, having fallen from more than $100 per barrel last June. But the drop in oil prices “has not affected us yet like it did in the 1980s,” Klineberg said. “The unemployment rate is low, and people are still moving here at the same rate as before.”

For the poll, released Thursday, Social Science Research Solutions, a Philadelphia-based firm, interviewed 1,611 people, including 802 from outside Harris County; 30 percent of which were conducted by cell phone. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

See the full report above.