Dallas Fed: Texas Jobs On Pace For Strongest Growth Since 2014
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - The Dallas Fed says Texas is on pace for the strongest job growth seen in four years, posting 3.5 percent job growth in the first quarter of 2018.
The state's energy sector continues to boom, and that expansion has benefited the Houston metro area, according to a new release from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
Dallas and Austin also saw a significant pickup in jobs. San Antonio job growth weakened in the first quarter, likely due in part to moderating effects following a strong surge in post-Hurricane Harvey leisure and hospitality hiring.
Statewide, both the manufacturing and service sectors demonstrate continued strength too.
"The headline indexes of our Texas Business Outlook Surveys are well above their long-run, post-recession averages, suggesting that economic growth in the state is both strong and broad based across sectors," said Jason L. Saving, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas senior research economist.
Price pressures on businesses have increased, particularly for manufacturers, according to the release. Wage pressures also remain high, reflecting the state's tight labor market, Saving said.
"Wage and price pressures remain elevated in the state, especially [in] our Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey's raw materials index," he said. "Regarding wages, on the service sector front, we had 26.6 percent of respondents saying that they'd raised wages over the last month, which was an all-time high."
