(Photo courtesy of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas)
LUBBOCK, Texas (PRESS RELEASE) – The following is a press release from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas:
Texas created 72,300 new jobs in July, according to published seasonally adjusted and benchmarking employment figures [Friday] from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
The state added a revised 44,400 jobs in June. The state has created 277,200 jobs since the beginning of the year.
Using a top-down model based on national projections, COVID-19 hospital admissions, and oil futures prices, the Texas Employment Forecast estimates that jobs will grow 4.3 percent in 2021, with an 80 percent increase Confidence band of 3.6 to 5.0 percent.
The forecast weakened from the 5.6 percent estimated when the June data was released.
“Employment growth in the first half of the year, when the COVID-19 cases were at a very high level, was weaker than previously estimated. The recent surge in COVID-19 hospital admissions in Texas and the forecast of sustained high hospital admissions through at least the end of September are putting some downside pressure on the forecast, “said Keith Phillips, vice president and chief economist, Dallas Fed. “Our business contacts report continued strong demand, but difficult to expand due to a lack of applicants and bottlenecks in the supply chain. The contacts note that the labor market has barely eased since the end of federal unemployment benefits at the end of June, and also fear that the labor market will remain tense as the rise in COVID-19 cases among workers in high-contact industries and ongoing problems with childcare Caution could be exercised.
Other key takeaways from the Dallas Fed’s latest report:
- It is forecast that 527,700 jobs will be created in the country this year and 12.9 million in December 2021.
- The Texas Leading Index fell moderately in July.
- According to seasonally adjusted figures from the Dallas Fed, unemployment rates fell in all of Texas’s nine major metropolitan areas in July.
- The unemployment rate in Texas fell slightly from 6.5 percent in June to 6.2 percent in July.
For more information about the Texas Employment Forecast, seasonally adjusted and benchmarking data on Texas jobs and major city unemployment rates, visit DallasFed.org.
(Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas press release)
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