Most of these ethylene projects are now under construction, providing a large number of local construction jobs. A similar list of expansions could be compiled for other petrochemicals, such as propylene, styrene, polypropylene or polyethylene. Houston's growth accelerated over the second half of the summer, with help from a strong U.S. economy and high oil and natural gas prices. Virtually every sector of the local economy shows gains compared with last year's performance, and the pace of employment, auto sales, construction and home sales has stepped up in recent months. Summer inventories cleared out on schedule, with same-store sales improving on the levels experienced a year ago.
Retailers report high interest in early fall fashions, an element missing in recent years.
Houston enjoyed its best July ever for auto sales, up 3 percent from an excellent July 1995. July is always a strong month for auto sales, but a combination of manufacturers' rebates, favorable interest rates and strong local job growth had to fall in place to generate such a good month. The loss of 700,000 barrels of daily Iraqi production over the winter will keep oil markets tight, with the weather determining exactly how tight. Mild weather and rising storage levels pushed natural gas prices to six-month lows in late summer. Cool summer weather meant less gas burned by electric utilities for air conditioning and more gas available for storage.