Texas employment forecast strengthens; 45,800 jobs added in April
DALLAS—The Texas Employment Forecast released today by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas indicates jobs will increase 2.6 percent in 2024, with an 80 percent confidence band of 2.0 to 3.2 percent.
This is an increase from the previous month’s forecast for 2024.
The forecast is based on an average of four models that include projected national GDP, oil futures prices and the Texas and U.S. leading indexes.
Texas added 45,800 jobs in April, according to seasonally adjusted and benchmarked payroll employment numbers.
The state added 17,700 jobs in March, which was revised downward.
“Broad-based acceleration of job growth in April illustrates the resiliency of the labor market,” said Luis Torres, Dallas Fed senior business economist. “Education and health services employment led overall job growth followed closely by construction. The only sector to report job losses last month was oil and gas. Employment in Texas’ major metro areas rebounded in April with Dallas leading the pack.”
Additional key takeaways from the latest Dallas Fed report:
- The forecast suggests 361,100 jobs will be added in the state this year, and employment in December 2024 will be 14.4 million.
- Texas employment grew an annualized 4.0 percent month over month in April, while March growth was revised downward to 1.5 percent.
The unemployment rate declined in Austin–Round Rock, Brownsville–Harlingen, Dallas–Plano–Irving, El Paso, Fort Worth–Arlington, Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land, Laredo, and San Antonio–New Braunfels, according to seasonally adjusted numbers from the Dallas Fed.
The Texas statewide unemployment rate increased to 4.0 percent in April.
Additional information about the Texas Employment Forecast, plus seasonally adjusted and benchmarked Texas jobs data and metro unemployment rates, may be found on DallasFed.org.
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Media contact:
Jon Prior
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
Phone: 214-922-6857
Email: jon.prior@dal.frb.org