New Dallas Fed report tracks growth in Fort Worth

DALLAS—Fort Worth’s job growth continued in May albeit at a slower pace than the prior month, while unemployment was flat and housing demand declined, according to the first edition of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas’ economic indicator for the area.

The publication aggregates data for one of the fastest growing regions in the country and presents an economic picture of Fort Worth that will now be separate from neighboring Dallas.

The Dallas Fed has published economic indicators for Texas and eight regions in the Eleventh District. The Fort Worth report will make nine and is scheduled to be published bimontly.

“Fort Worth has experienced a surge of population and economic growth, broadening its economic base while maintaining its unique strengths in energy, transportation and distribution, and manufacturing,” said Pia Orrenius, vice president and senior economist at the Dallas Fed. “We’ve added the area to our list of regular economic indicators so we can track its growth and continued economic development, while monitoring issues that come with such growth, like a rapid rise in home prices.”

Key indicators from the new report include:

• Employment in Fort Worth rose an annualized 1.6 percent in May after rising 2.6 percent in April.
• Fort Worth job growth in the three months ending in May was 3.4 percent.
• Fort Worth has a notably higher share of jobs in trade, transportation, and utilities (23.9 percent) compared to Dallas (19.5 percent) and Texas (19.4 percent). It also exceeds Dallas (6.5 percent) and Texas (6.8 percent) in manufacturing employment at 9.0 percent.
• Fort Worth unemployment was unchanged at 4.0 percent in May. The May jobless rate was 4.3 percent in Texas.
• The average nominal hourly wage in Fort Worth ticked down to $37.23 in May but was up 3.4 percent from year ago levels.
• The median sales price of a home in Fort Worth was unchanged at $355,000 in May, a 0.6 percent decline from one year ago.

Read the full report here: Fort Worth Economic Indicators

Media contact:
Jon Prior
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
Phone: 214-922-6857
Email: jon.prior@dal.frb.org