The numbers are in and in the past year, the Austin economy flourished...in the state and the nation. That's according to the latest figures released by the Austin Chamber of Commerce, which show more than 34,000 jobs were added in the 12 months ending in December. “So that’s a 4.3 percent growth rate and that’s better than any of the other, large metros in the United States.” Beverly Kerr, the Austin Chamber’s Vice-president of Research, says the majority of the jobs added were in two industries: professional and business services, and leisure and hospitality.

Regarding job growth, Kerr says San Francisco was number two.  The West Coast city experienced a 3.4 percent job growth in 2012. She also notes the December unemployment rate for Austin was five percent, which is lower than other metro areas in the state.