WATCH: Borderplex Alliance 2022 economic outlook; Texas recovers from all jobs that were lost in pandemic, labor market continues to be tight

EL PASO, Texas – The U.S. labor market continues to be extremely tight. That's among the findings discussed at the Borderplex Alliance 2022 economic outlook Monday held at the El Paso Community Foundation room.

Roberto Coronado, Senior Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said the number one complaint from business leaders continues to be a lack of talent as an impediment for growth.

Coronado says he expects growth in 2022 will be strong but will moderate. He says he expects inflation to go down.

Coronado says Texas had a robust 2021 and had better growth than the U.S. According to Coronado, Texas was one of only four states to recover all of the jobs it lost in the pandemic but continues to see a lot of churn in the labor force.

Coronado says business leaders are focusing more on skill sets when hiring, placing a higher priority on whether an individual can pivot from one industry into another.

Jon Barela, CEO Borderplex Alliance called China a growing threat. He spoke about the Borderplex as a solution to reshore and nearshore jobs to our region.

Cindy Ramos-Davidson, CEO, El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce spoke about the impact of the pandemic on small businesses. Ramos-Davidson said small businesses have been severely impacted by the pandemic with mom and pop shops suffering the most.