EL PASO, Tx., December 17, 2025: As we close out 2025, the most recent economic data shows that El Paso’s regional economy is growing but at a much lower rate than other U.S. cities. Leading El Paso’s stagnating economy is a rising unemployment rate and wages that are now stagnating. El Paso’s job market is decelerating leading to a slightly higher unemployment rate than the national and Texas average. Although job growth across the nation remains uneven, they remain higher than El Paso’s job growth in recent months.
Helping El Pasoans weather the stagnant economy is El Paso’s affordability, which is below the national average. But the affordability creates the false perception among El Pasoans that the economy is stable, when, in reality, it is stagnating to the point of falling behind the state and national averages.
Coupled with El Paso’s high property taxes and overreliance on government jobs, the stagnant economy will make it more difficult for the city to recover once the national economy begins to recover…