Austin Economic Indicators

Austin employment fell in July, while the unemployment rate remained unchanged. Retail sales tax collections dropped, and rents fell for an eighth consecutive month.

Business-cycle index

The Austin Business-Cycle Index, a broad measure of economic activity, grew an annualized 0.7 percent in July, slower than the 1.2 percent gain in June (Chart 1).

Labor market

Unemployment rate stabilizes

Austin’s unemployment  rate remained at 3.4 percent in July—below the state’s and nation’s rates of 4.1 and 4.3 percent, respectively (Chart 2). In July the local labor force did not change, while the state’s increased 3.3 percent, and the nation’s grew 3.0 percent.

Employment falls

Austin employment fell 1.8 percent in July after dropping 1.0 percent in June (Chart 3). Sectors that saw a decline included professional and business services (-4,792 jobs) and information services (-498 jobs). Sectors with the most growth were construction and mining (817 jobs) and education and health services (699 jobs). Year to date in July, Austin employment fell 0.9 percent, below the state’s and nation’s growth of 1.7 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.

Metro retail sales tax collections

In July, Austin’s real inflation-adjusted retail sales tax collections fell 2.1 percent, while the state’s collections fell 0.5 percent (Chart 4). Year over year, metro retail sales tax collections fell 1.0 percent, contrasting Texas’ collections, which ticked up 0.7 percent.

Housing

Austin asking rent prices fell 0.6 percent in July and dropped 4.6 percent year over year. It was the eighth consecutive month that prices fell (Chart 5). Austin rent prices peaked in July 2022 and have fallen 8.0 percent since. Rent prices in the U.S. remained flat in July but were up 2.7 percent year over year and rose 5.1 percent from July 2022.