Texas - Profile and Business Opportunities

Jan. 9, 2011 - PRLog -- While the unemployment rate fell to 9.4%, the lowest in a year and a half. It’s hard to celebrate a drop in the jobless rate that’s due, in part, to a decline in the number of people in the labor force. The participation rate fell to its lowest level of this recession. For adult men, the participation rate fell to a record-low 73.6%.

Separate reports on the nation's job market showed increased hiring by companies last month and fewer layoffs, painting a picture of a strengthening employment recovery at the end of 2010. The private sector created 297,000 jobs from November to December, according a report from ADP that was the highest number the payroll firm has ever reported.

Manufacturing saw a gain of 23,000 jobs while construction was unchanged. Large businesses saw the fewest gains, with 36,000 jobs, while medium-sized businesses, with between 50 and 499 workers, created 144,000 positions.

One dynamic star on the U.S. business scene is The ACFN ATM Franchise Business, headquartered in San Jose, California, where the company was ranked by the Business Journal as the 43rd Fastest Growing Private Company in Silicon Valley for 2007 - 2009.

“ACFN is a U.S. company with operations in all 50 States and Canada, however by utilizing our franchise business model we maintain the operating efficiencies of a local company”, says Jeff Kerr, Founder and President of ACFN.

“ ACFN's ATM franchise equips you with the tools and the know how to manage the business". Avi Blankroth, Excecutive Vice President of ACFN says. "The process begins with each franchisee purchasing ATMs, while ACFN locates and contracts lucrative placement locations"

As of 2009, the state has an estimated population of 24,782,406, an increase of 1.97% from the prior year and 16.1% since the year 2000.The state's rate of natural increase (births and deaths) since the last census was 1,389,275 people, immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 801,576 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 451,910 people. As of 2004, the state had 3.5 million foreign-born residents (15.6 percent of the state population), of which an estimated 1.2 million are illegal aliens. Texas from 2000–2006 had the fastest growing illegal
immigration rate in the nation. In 2010, illegal aliens constituted an estimated 6.0% of the population. This was the fifth highest percentage of any state in the country.

Texas's population density is 34.8 persons/km2 which is slightly higher than the average population density of the US as a whole, at 31 persons/km2. In contrast, while Texas and France are similarly sized geographically, the European country has a population density of 110 persons/km2.

Two-thirds of all Texans live in a major metropolitan area such as Houston. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area is the largest in Texas. While Houston is the largest city in Texas and the fourth largest city in the United States, the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area is considerably larger than that of Houston.

As of 2008, Texas had a gross state product (GSP) of $1.224 trillion, the second highest in the U.S. Its GSP is comparable to the GDP of India or Canada which are ranked 12th and 11th worldwide. Texas's economy is the third largest in the world of country subdivisions behind California and Tokyo Prefecture. Its Per Capita personal income in 2009 was $36,484, ranking 29th in the nation. Texas's large population, abundance of natural resources, and diverse population and geography have led to a large and diverse economy. Since oil was discovered, the state's economy has reflected the state of the petroleum industry. In recent times, urban centers of the state have increased in size, containing two-thirds of the population in 2005. The state's economic growth has led to urban sprawl and its associated symptoms.

Texas has a "low taxes, low services" reputation. According to the Tax Foundation, Texans' state and local tax burdens rank among the lowest in the nation, 7th lowest nationally; state and local taxes cost $3,580 per capita, or 8.4% of resident incomes. Texas is one of seven states that lack a state income tax. Instead, the state collects revenue from a state sales tax, which is charged at the rate of 6.25%, but local taxing jurisdictions (cities, counties, special purpose districts, and transit authorities) may also impose sales and use tax up to 2% for a total maximum combined rate of 8.25%. Texas is a "tax donor state"; in 2005, for every dollar Texans paid to the federal government in federal income taxes, the state received approximately $0.94 in benefits.

In 2004, Site Selection Magazine ranked Texas as the most business-friendly state in the nation in part because of the state's three-billion-dollar Texas Enterprise Fund. The state holds the most Fortune 500 company headquarters in the United States.

In 2010, there were 346,000 millionaires in the state, second highest in the nation.
Through all of 2010, the nation added 1.1 million jobs, or an average of 94,000 jobs a month.

As of January 2010, the states unemployment rate is 8.2%.

Economists expect hiring will ramp up this year, with some predicting double last year's total of jobs or more. A tax cut package that goes into effect this month should boost consumer and business spending.

About  ACFN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2DuNabUgNA



Find out how you can benefit from ACFN to help deliver return on investment, positive cash flow and improved revenue.

More information is available at:

http://www.acfnfranchised.com/

American Consumer Financial Network (ACFN)
111 W. St. John St
Sixth Floor
San Jose, CA 95113

Tel: 888-794-2236

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ACFN is North Americas only ATM franchise focused on providing ATM services to hotels and other travel and entertainment based businesses. Providing ATM services since 1996, franchised in 2003 with 170 franchises, 1400 ATM Machines in the US and Canada.