Snapshot: Texas employment estimate debuts
The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas’ new Texas Weekly Employment Estimate (TWEE) is a timely tool to monitor evolving economic conditions while awaiting release of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ establishment survey of employment. Most of the data used in the weekly estimate come from private high-frequency sources, providing daily and weekly measurements based on things such as credit card transactions and cell phone mobility.
The TWEE contracted in July but showed considerable improvement in August (Chart 1). As daily new COVID-19 cases began increasing at the beginning of the summer—reaching new highs from early June to mid-July—jobs appear to have declined. However, COVID-19 cases have decreased markedly since the July highs, and employment growth has been steady.
The latest TWEE data should help the public anticipate what official releases will subsequently show.
—Adapted from Dallas Fed Economics, August 18, 2020
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