Texas economy continues to lead the pack

As the national economy works to pick up steam, a new report says that the Texas economy continues to outperform many other states.

A study by the Texas A&M Real Estate Center found that the state added more than 194,000 jobs from November 2009 to November 2010 - a growth rate of 1.9 percent. At the same time, the national economy added roughly 842,000 positions for a growth rate of just 0.6 percent.

Texas' unemployment rate also remained relatively strong. While the national unemployment rate improved, dropping from 10.0 to 9.8 percent, it was still higher than the Texas jobless rate, which stayed level at 8.2 percent over the same 12-month period. The Houston real estate market also received a boost during the year, with employment growing by 0.4 percent.

Many analysts have pointed to the jobs market as a key part in a housing market recovery. Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, said that if the country added 2 million jobs in 2011, existing home sales would rise significantly.