Lone Star State first in capital investment

​​​​AUSTIN – Texas recorded $48.3 billion in capital investment ranking first in the country in a new report from Ernst & Young. The state also ranked first in mobile project jobs with 38,400.

Of the $166 billion in capital investment made in U.S. projects last year, almost a third was in Texas. The country saw a 2 percent decrease in the total number of jobs. 

Chemical manufacturing facilities accounted for nearly 40 percent of investments. Of that, 70 percent of chemical manufacturing was from new liquefied natural gas export facilities. 

States along the Gulf Coast attracted the most investment. EY said for the fifth year in a row, Texas and No. 2 Louisiana—which ranked second—accounted for nearly half of all announced investment. 

The energy industry isn’t the only sector that added jobs in Texas and the Southeast U.S. The region continues to attract job-creating mobile projects in financial and professional services, and chemical manufacturing as well.