Southwest Economy Archive

• May 22, 2026
  Texas economy shows resilience amid geopolitical uncertainty

  Isabel Brizuela and Ethan Dixon

  The Texas labor market showed signs of increasing momentum in early 2026, with employment growing 1.7 percent during the first quarter after a sluggish 2025.
• May 20, 2026
  Trader remains bullish on cattle despite economic, contagion threats
  Leslie Callahan, a co-founder and principal of cattle trading firm Crossroads Cattle, discusses the reasons behind record-high beef prices and challenges facing the industry.
• May 20, 2026
  Ranchers herd it all as fewer cattle pressure beef prices; screwworm lurks

  Ethan Dixon and Mariam Yousuf

  Texas cattle ranchers typically benefit from an increase in beef prices, but more recently, the reemergence of the flesh-eating New World screwworm parasite threatens the beef industry.
• May 8, 2026
  Eleventh Federal Reserve District banks maintain growth, profitability heading into 2026

  Kristof Csaky, JR Garcia and Ozge Ozden

  Eleventh District banks, benefitting from steady profits, strong credit conditions and improving bank capital levels, are well positioned to compete in a changing regulatory environment.
• April 15, 2026
  Texas homeowners pay high insurance costs, face rising premiums

  Mariam Yousuf

  Home insurance premiums have risen dramatically in the postpandemic years, with the median Texas homeowner paying 60 percent more for home insurance in 2024 compared with 2019, American Community Survey data show.
• April 10, 2026
  Is the system failing when hard work, education not enough?
  Gary Hoover, author of "Ladder or Lottery: Economic Promises and the Reality of Who Gets Ahead," discusses why some people who follow the rules for getting ahead instead fall behind.
• April 8, 2026
  Ciudad Juarez retools amid job losses

  Isabel Brizuela, Jesus Cañas, Luis Torres and Diego Morales-Burnett

  Ciudad Juarez, across the Rio Grande from El Paso, lost nearly one-fifth of its manufacturing jobs over a two-year period. The decline reflects the city’s move into higher value-added, less labor-intensive production of electronics and hardware demanded for the U.S.’s burgeoning data center build-out.
• April 1, 2026
  Region’s commercial space exploration industry has lofty goals for growth, discovery

  Isabel Dhillon, Ethan Dixon, Isaiah Spellman and Pia Orrenius

  Texas' booming private space industry is making access to space broader and cheaper than ever before.
• March 23, 2026
  Texas multifamily housing yet to stabilize; downside risks remain

  Laila Assanie, Lorenzo Garza and Kelly Klemme

  A fair amount of excess supply remains in some markets, and new properties are facing longer lease-up timelines.
• February 27, 2026
  Construction firms navigate cost, demand challenges in postpandemic era
  Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America, discusses the state of commercial construction in Texas and the U.S., including ongoing office and data center activity.