As oil prices started to decline from a then-record high of $37 per barrel in 1981, the share of oil and gas extraction in employment and output tumbled, as did oil and gas-related taxes. Oil prices collapsed to $11 in 1986, and Texas fell into a deep recession. In 1986 and 1987, almost 300,000 people left the state. From 1981 to April 1987, when job losses eased, oil and gas industry employment had shrunk by more than half, or 212,100 jobs. The rig count, almost 1,500 at the height of the boom, plunged 83 percent to 255
Following the 1986 recession, the Texas economy diversified away from oil and gas, and energy’s share of employment and output declined. From 1987 until the onset of the 2001 recession, the mining industry (mainly oil and gas) grew only 18 percent, while total Texas output jumped more than 113 percent. The collapse of oil prices, again to $11, in late 1998 following the Asian debt crisis further pushed the energy industry downhill. Oil and gas’ share of output reached its lowest level, 4.1 percent, in 1999. The sector’s employment share also reached its nadir [lowest point], 1.4 percent and 125,000 jobs, in 1999.
—Mine K. Yücel and Jackson Thies, “Oil and Gas Rise Again in a Diversified Texas,” Southwest Economy, 2011
Based on the information in the excerpt above, how did the Texas economy change following the 1980s decline in oil prices?
A
Jobs were created in new industries.
B
Taxes on oil and gas production were raised.
C
Incentives were offered to relocating businesses.
D
Government subsidies were given to the oil and gas industry.