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Texas added 500 jobs in March; state employment forecast revised up to 1 percent for 2016

For immediate release: April 15, 2016

DALLAS—Texas added 500 jobs in March, according to seasonally adjusted and benchmarked payroll employment numbers released today by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

The state added a revised 7,900 jobs in February. Year to date in 2016, jobs have grown at an annualized pace of 1.1 percent after growing 1.5 percent in 2015. The monthly annualized growth rate in March was 0.1 percent.

Incorporating the March employment data, the Texas Employment Forecast stands at 1 percent growth for 2016, suggesting 116,200 jobs will be added in Texas this year, and employment in December 2016 will be 12.1 million. This is an upward revision from the 0.7 percent forecast the Bank released in February.

“Despite close to zero job growth in March, recent changes in leading indicators suggest that Texas job growth will improve in the months ahead,” said Keith R. Phillips, Dallas Fed assistant vice president and senior economist. “Job growth remains positive along the I-35 corridor of Dallas, Austin and San Antonio while it was negative in Houston.”

The Dallas Fed’s Texas Leading Index suggests positive job growth in the months ahead. The index declined sharply in January, showed a moderate decline in February and increased at a healthy pace in March. However, the March value is considered preliminary since the U.S. Leading Index, a component of the series, is not yet available for March.

Unemployment rates rose in all nine major Texas metro areas in March, according to seasonally adjusted numbers from the Dallas Fed.

The Dallas Fed improves upon Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) payroll employment estimates for Texas by incorporating preliminary benchmarks into the data in a more timely manner and by using a two-step seasonal adjustment technique.

The Dallas Fed releases its Texas Employment Forecast on a monthly basis in conjunction with the release of monthly Texas employment data. The forecast projects job growth for the calendar year and is estimated as the 12-month change in payroll employment from December to December.

For information on the methodology for the Bank’s Texas employment forecast, visit the Dallas Fed’s website.

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Media contact:
Jennifer Chamberlain
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
Phone: (214) 922-6748
Email: Jennifer.Chamberlain@dal.frb.org