Houston Business Journal - by Deon Daugherty, Reporter

Date: Tuesday, July 12, 2011, 2:57pm CDT - Last Modified: Thursday, July 14, 2011, 6:41pm CDT

Seem crowded in Houston these days? New data in a study by Rice University Rice University Latest from The Business Journals Study: Iraq not prepared to meet global oil demandDrexel in effort to give amputees brain control of prostheticsRice partners in national 1M supercomputing grid project Follow this company backs up that feeling.

Houston has added more people during the last decade than any of the nation’s other 366 metropolitan areas, according to the analysis of the 2000 and 2010 U.S. Census released Tuesday by Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research.

Although New York, Los Angeles and Chicago continue to top the nation’s most populous cities, Houston grew by 1.23 million people in that 10-year period, more than any other U.S. city.

Houston’s growth alone represents more people than those who live in Buffalo, New Orleans and the combined population of the country’s 14 smallest metropolitan areas.

Overall growth in Houston is based largely on the influx of immigrants moving directly into the southern and southwestern areas, Emerson said.

“This is the secret of Houston’s phenomenal growth over the past decade. It comes not primarily from relocating or retiring Americans but from first-generation immigrants and from their children born in Houston,” he said.

Weather related losses in the US are already surpassing $15 billion this year – that’s 3 times the annual average!   The number of predicted tropical storms is also higher than average.  In addition, a new hurricane weather model was published this year showing an increase in inland wind damage.  The current losses and the new model have underwriters taking another look at catastrophe-exposed commercial risks - and adjusting premiums.  Reinsurers are also increasing their commercial rates.  So be prepared - although commercial property rates have been fairly flat, they may increase 5% to 10% and include tighter terms and conditions.

Retirement surge means talent crisis looms for energy sector

Full article:Houston Business Journal; (Wooten, C) May 6, 2011

El Paso Corp. in Houston, is facing an exodus of seasoned talent in the next few years.  In 2016, 40 percent of their employees will be eligible for retirement, a 15% increase, but not a unique number in the industry.

Recruitment goals for oil and gas companies are now 15 percent higher than in 2009, largely to fill the growing gap caused by retirements, according to a study by Houston-based oil services company Schlumberger Ltd. (read more at http://bizj.us/b2e95).  Companies are hiring workers from Asia, Russia and the former Soviet Republics in a stop-gap effort to satisfy demand.  For young people in the industry, it means a job field open for advancement.

Read more: Retirement surge means talent crisis looms for energy sector | Houston Business Journal