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Southwest Economy, Fourth Quarter 2020

Fourth Quarter 2020

COVID-19 Fuels Sudden, Surging Demand for Suburban Housing

Pandemic-related actions have helped propel a sudden, large shift from renting to homeownership and a concurrent movement to the suburbs and larger homes.

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Pandemic Unemployment Benefits Provided Much-Needed Fiscal Support

Enhanced unemployment insurance benefits implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have helped buttress spending among the unemployed.

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Spotlight: Lower U.S. Crude Oil Production Decreases Output, Raises Price of Natural Gas

Natural gas futures plummeted to a historic low in June 2020 only to rebound by late October, mainly due to a decline in natural gas production from oil wells.

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President’s Perspective

President Kaplan shares recent thoughts on the the outlook for economic growth, appropriate Fed response to the resurgence of the virus and future of the energy industry.

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Energy Woes to Weigh on Houston Recovery, Local Economist Says

Bill Gilmer, director of the Institute for Regional Forecasting at the University of Houston’s Bauer College of Business, assesses the effect of the energy industry problems on the Houston economy and provides an outlook for 2021.

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Go Figure: Loan Delinquencies Start to Climb After Falling with Stimulus and Relief

COVID-19 stimulus and loan relief helped Texas borrowers avoid falling behind on loan payments in 2020's second quarter.

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Authors

Laila Assanie

Yichen Su

Anil Kumar

Jesse Thompson

Olumide Eseyin

Wenhua Di

Carlee Crocker

Southwest Economy is published quarterly by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas or the Federal Reserve System.

Articles may be reprinted on the condition that the source is credited to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.