Odessa, TX by the Numbers

Odessa’s August economic indicators were still down year-over-year, though there were a handful of bright spots. While commercial real estate building permits were down from August 2015, the oil rig count is starting to pick up, according to numbers from the Odessa Development Corp.

This past August, six commercial real estate building permits were issued, valued at $1.8 million. The year before, 20 permits, valued at $3.6 million had been issued. New residential construction was also down by about half from the year before. The unemployment rate was 6.8% (versus the 5.0% year-over-year), with an estimated 72,900 jobs available.

August’s Permian Basin rig count stood at 160. Though well below the 204 rigs reported the year before, the count was higher than the 121 rigs reported in May. The rig count, in fact, has been inching upward since the beginning of this year.

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