"Austin and the three other major Texas markets registered the nation's strongest employment gains during the past five years, according to figures released Wednesday morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Austin came in No. 3 with 56,100 new private-sector jobs created between June 2005 and June 2010. Houston topped the list with 129,800 new private-sector jobs followed by Dallas, with 71,300 jobs created. San Antonio ranked No. 4, with a gain of 32,600 positions during the same time period."

Read more: Texas cities hold top four job-growth spots - Austin Business Journal

A Bloomberg Businessweek report has put Houston at the top of a list of American cities for college grads. The ranking was a list of cities which, despite the economy, still have strong job opportunities, decent pay, and living costs that won’t blow your budget. Houston tops the list, thanks to its low cost of living and unemployment rate. Only New York and Washington, D.C., had more employers listing job opportunities. After Houston, Washington, Dallas, Atlanta, and Austin, Tex., round out the top five.

One commonly overlooked form of "predatory lending" is when banks and mortgage companies repeatedly encourage people to take out larger mortgages and home equity loans for "debt consolidation" or to spend more by basically consuming your home equity. This often results in spreading car loans and credit card balances over 30 years with no real plan to help you become debt free. Unlike many traditional bankers and brokers, Ken Jacobson can help you conserve your home equity, not consume it. This involves helping you implement financial strategies that will get your debt down to manageable levels and help you stay on track to become debt free.
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