Editing Laredo, Texas (section)

==Economy==

[[File:Walker Plaza off Interstate 35 in Laredo, TX IMG 1808.JPG|thumb|The Walker Plaza office complex in Laredo was built in the early 1990s by the family of South Texas rancher [[Gene S. Walker Sr.]]]]
[[File:Laredo Federal Credit Unon on McPherson Rd. IMG 7355.JPG|thumb|Laredo Federal Credit Union on McPherson Road]]
[[File:Former Cotulla Style Pit BBQ, Laredo, TX Picture 1022.jpg|thumb|The former Cotulla Barbeque on McPherson Road at Taylor Street was closed, razed in 2012, and replaced by office buildings.]]

[[South Texas]] banking institutions in Laredo include [[Falcon International Bank]], [[International Bank of Commerce]], and [[Texas Community Bank]].

Laredo is the largest inland port in the United States, and [[Nuevo Laredo]] the largest in Latin America. This is due to their respective locations, served by [[Interstate Highway 35]] / [[Mexican Federal Highway 85]], the effects of NAFTA, dozens of [[Maquiladora|twin assembly plants]] on the Mexican side, and dozens of [[International trade|import export agencies]] to expedite trade. In January 2014, the Laredo customs district processed "$20&nbsp;billion in two-way trade with Mexico", about half that for the entire US with Mexico for the month.<ref>{{cite news |last=Aguilar |first=Julian |date=March 13, 2014 |title=In Laredo, a Quiet Symbol of Closer Ties With Mexico |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/14/us/in-laredo-a-quiet-symbol-of-closer-ties-with-mexico.html|newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=June 5, 2015 |quote=The South Texas city houses America's busiest inland port. In January alone, the Laredo customs district saw about $20&nbsp;billion in two-way trade with Mexico, according to WorldCity, a Florida-based company that uses census data to track trade patterns. That figure represented about half of the $41&nbsp;billion that the United States saw in overall trading with its southern neighbor for the month.}}<br/>{{cite web |url=http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/187931 |title=The City of Laredo Transfers Ownership of World Trade Bridge to GSA |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=March 13, 2014 |publisher=United States General Services Administration |access-date=June 5, 2015 |quote=Since its inception the World Trade Bridge Port of Entry has become the busiest commercial port on the southwest border.}}</ref> Laredo is a shopping destination for Mexican shoppers from Northern Mexico. In 2015, the ''San Antonio Express-News'' reported the number of Mexican shoppers has declined due to drug war-related violence in Nuevo Laredo.<ref>{{cite news |last=MacCormack |first=John |date=September 22, 2012 |title=Laredo's image hammered by drug violence |url=http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/The-collateral-damage-of-drug-war-3886817.php |newspaper=San Antonio Express-News |access-date=June 5, 2015}}</ref>

===Trade===

[[File:View across the Rio Grande at Laredo, Texas.jpg|thumb|View across the Rio Grande at Laredo, Texas (postcard, {{Circa|1909}})]]
More than 47% of United States international trade headed for Mexico and more than 36% of Mexican international trade crosses through [[Laredo World Trade Port of Entry|the Laredo port of entry]].<ref>[http://madmax.lmtonline.com/askus/transportation/stories/trans1.htm "National report lists Laredo as largest inland port"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060514141905/http://madmax.lmtonline.com/askus/transportation/stories/trans1.htm |date=May 14, 2006 }}, ''Laredo Morning Times''</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dallasfed.org/research/swe/2006/swe0606b.html|title=Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas "Southwest Economy "|website=Dallasfed.org|access-date=August 27, 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927122437/http://www.dallasfed.org/research/swe/2006/swe0606b.html|archive-date=September 27, 2007}}</ref> Laredo's economy revolves around commercial and industrial warehousing, import, and export. As a major player in international trade, the Laredo area benefited from passage of the [[North American Free Trade Agreement]], which has encouraged trade. The Laredo port of entry consists of [[International bridges in Laredo, Texas|four international bridges]] (with a proposed fifth one) crossing the Rio Grande into the Mexican states of [[Tamaulipas]] and [[Nuevo León]].

===Retail sales===

Retail sales attract shoppers from Northern Mexico and South Texas.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.malldelnorte.com/shop/malldelnorte.nsf/DemographPDFWeb/Demographics/$File/MallDelNorte-%202006%20Update.pdf?OpenElement|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928022523/http://www.malldelnorte.com/shop/malldelnorte.nsf/DemographPDFWeb/Demographics/%24File/MallDelNorte-%202006%20Update.pdf?OpenElement|url-status=dead|title=Shopping Demographics in the Laredo Area|archive-date=September 28, 2007}}</ref> There is one indoor shopping mall in Laredo, [[Mall del Norte]], [[River Drive Mall#The Outlet Shoppes at Laredo|The Outlet Shoppes at Laredo]], and another has not progressed past planning: Laredo Town Center, part of downtown redevelopment. There are dozens of shopping centers. The Streets of Laredo Urban Mall is an association created by businesses on Iturbide Street in the San Agustin historical district to beautify and renovate the area, which has a pedestrian scale.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.laredosnews.com/archives/october2003/local_01.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071006105434/http://www.laredosnews.com/archives/october2003/local_01.htm|url-status=dead|title=LareDOS Article "Streets of Laredo Urban Mall|archive-date=October 6, 2007}}</ref>
*[[Mall Del Norte]] {{convert|1198199|sqft|m2|abbr=on}}
*The Outlet Shoppes at Laredo<ref>Kendra Ablaza, "Official confirms 31 stores: Opening set for 2016, ''Laredo Morning Times'', July 9, 2015, pp. 1, 12A</ref>
*[[Streets of Laredo Urban Mall]]

===Labor market information===

As of October 2007, Laredo's labor market was in the following industries by percentage of number employed: Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (32%), Information (1%), Financial Activity (5%), Professional and Business Services (6%), Education and Health Services (15%), Leisure and Hospitality (10%), Government (23%), Mining and Construction (5%), Manufacturing (2%), and Other Services (2%).

Laredo has increased the number of nonagricultural jobs from 55,100 in January 1996 to 86,600 in October 2007. Laredo has had a higher job growth rate (2%–6.5%) than the state as a whole because of expanded international trade through NAFTA. In 2007, Laredo experienced a job growth rate of 2.5% with the unemployment rate as of October 2007, standing at  4.1% or 3,700 unemployed persons, as compared to 3.9% in Texas statewide. This is a significant drop since the mid-1990s, when Laredo's unemployment was over 15%.

Laredo has had positive job market growth since the mid-1990s; setbacks in the mining (oil/gas) industry shifted a few thousand workers to other industries such as international trade and construction. Many large employers in the oil and gas industries shut down operations in Laredo and across Texas, and shifted to foreign countries. The same effect occurred in the garment industry (Levis and Haggar) along the Texas border area. Laredo lost its only garment-producing company (Barry), costing the jobs of about 300 workers. Laredo's strong job growth rate in retail and transportation services limited the adverse effects of long-term unemployment from the few massive layoffs of the late 1990s. Laredo's success with international trade is also a vulnerability; it depends on changes to Mexico's economy, that status of immigration laws (along with daily border crossings: shoppers and commercial trade), and terrorism.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.southtexasworkforce.org/labor-market-information|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080628201836/http://www.southtexasworkforce.org/labor-market-information|url-status=dead|title=Laredo Labor Market, South Texas Workforce Commission|archive-date=June 28, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Texas Metro Market Overview: Laredo: Labor page 14|url=http://recenter.tamu.edu/mreports/2011/Laredo.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150203144126/http://recenter.tamu.edu/mreports/2011/Laredo.pdf|archive-date=February 3, 2015|access-date=August 27, 2017|website=Recenter.tamu.edu}}</ref>

====Top employers====

{|class="sortable wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse"
|'''Employer'''
|'''Category'''
|'''Employees'''
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|[[United Independent School District]] ||Education ||6,179
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|[[Laredo Independent School District]] ||Education ||4,500
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|City of Laredo ||Government ||2,371
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|[[U.S. Customs and Border Protection|Laredo Sector Border Patrol]] ||Immigration ||2,000
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|[[H-E-B]] ||Grocery ||1,626
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|[[Webb County]] ||Government ||1,500
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|[[Laredo Medical Center]]||Health care ||1,300
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|[[Texas A&M International University]] ||Education ||1,215
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|[[McDonald's]] ||Food ||1,200
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|[[Walmart]] ||Retail ||937
|-[[Oreil'y auto parts]] ||Retail/auto parts ||
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|[[Concentrix]] (formerly [[Convergys]]) ||Call Center ||860
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|[[Doctors Hospital (Laredo, Texas)|Doctors Hospital]]||Health Care ||811
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|[[International Bank of Commerce]] ||Financial Services ||661
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|[[Stripes Convenience Stores]] ||Retail/Convenience ||337
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|[[Laredo Energy Arena]] ||Entertainment ||293
|- style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"
|[[Falcon International Bank]] ||Financial Services ||292
|}

=== Agriculture ===
Laredo is a major center for the [[cattle ranching]] in the state.<ref name="surveillance" /> Cattle here suffer from the cattle fever tick, ''[[Rhipicephalus microplus]]'' (syn. ''Boophilus microplus'').<ref name="surveillance" /> Researchers and ranchers are concerned about [[pyrethroid resistance]] developing and spreading here, as it has in nearby areas of the state and neighboring [[Tamaulipas]] state.<ref name="surveillance">This review {{cite journal | journal=[[Journal of Medical Entomology]] | issn=0022-2585 | year=2021 | issue=4 | volume=58 | publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] (OUP) ([[Entomological Society of America]] (ESA)) | last1=Showler | first1=Allan | last2=Leon | first2=Adalberto | last3=Saelao | first3=Perot | title=Biosurveillance and Research Needs Involving Area-Wide Systematic Active Sampling to Enhance Integrated Cattle Fever Tick (Ixodida: Ixodidae) Eradication | doi=10.1093/jme/tjab051 | pages=1601–1609 | pmid=33822110 | s2cid=233036282| doi-access=free }} cites this study {{cite journal | year=2020 | issue=4 | volume=113 | first9=David | first8=Glen | first7=Nathan | first6=Juan | first5=Robert | first4=Pia | first3=Joseph | first1=Donald | last10=Leon | last9=Wagner | last8=Scoles | last7=Stone | last5=Miller | last4=Olafson | last3=Busch | last1=Thomas | pages=298–309 | first10=Adalberto | first2=Guilherme | last6=Mosqueda | last2=Klafke | publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] (OUP) ([[Entomological Society of America]] (ESA)) | journal=[[Annals of the Entomological Society of America]] | issn=0013-8746 | title=Tracking the Increase of Acaricide Resistance in an Invasive Population of Cattle Fever Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) and Implementation of Real-Time PCR Assays to Rapidly Genotype Resistance Mutations | s2cid=216254066 | doi=10.1093/aesa/saz053| doi-access=free }}</ref> Because the situation is so severe, the main office of the country's {{visible anchor|Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program}} is located here.<ref name="sitrep" /> This program is operated by [[USDA APHIS]].<ref name="sitrep">{{cite web|access-date=December 5, 2022|publisher=[[Texas A&M AgriLife]]|url=https://tickapp.tamu.edu/invasive-ticks/cattle-fever-tick-situation-report/|title=Cattle Fever Tick Situation Report}}</ref> The {{visible anchor|Deutch Strain}} of this tick was collected here by Davey ''et al.'', 1980 and is now a commonly used [[laboratory strain]] negative for pyrethroid resistance.<ref name=melt>This review {{cite journal |year=2020 |id=108993 |volume=278 |first3=Srikant |first2=Anil |first1=Rinesh |last3=Ghosh |last2=Sharma |last1=Kumar |title=Menace of acaricide resistance in cattle tick, ''Rhipicephalus microplus'' in India: Status and possible mitigation strategies |journal=[[Veterinary Parasitology (journal)|Veterinary Parasitology]] |page=108993 |publisher=[[Elsevier B.V.]] ([[American Association of Veterinary Parasitologists]] (AAVP) & European Veterinary Parasitology College (EVPC) & World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology (WAAVP) |doi=10.1016/j.vetpar.2019.108993 |pmid=31954273 |s2cid=210715482}} cites this study {{cite journal|journal=International Journal for Parasitology: Drugs and Drug Resistance |publisher=Australian Society for Parasitology (ASP) ([[Elsevier]]) |year=2019 |volume=9 |pages=100–111 |first6=Teresa |first5=Daniela |first4=Donald |first3=Jason |first2=Robert |first1=Guilherme |last7=Leon |last6=Arroyo |last5=Sanchez |last4=Thomas |last3=Tidwell |last2=Miller |first7=Adalberto |last1=Klafke |title=High-resolution melt (HRM) analysis for detection of SNPs associated with pyrethroid resistance in the southern cattle fever tick, ''Rhipicephalus'' (''Boophilus'') ''microplus'' (Acari: Ixodidae) |issn=2211-3207 |doi=10.1016/j.ijpddr.2019.03.001 |pmid=30889438 |pmc=6423475}}</ref>