LUBBOCK, Texas (PRESS RELEASE) — The following is a press release from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas:

Texas added 89,500 jobs in September, according to seasonally adjusted and benchmarked payroll employment numbers released today [Friday] by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

The state added a revised 31,300 jobs in August. The state has added 416,000 jobs year to date.

Using a top-down model based on national forecasts, COVID-19 hospitalizations and oil futures prices, the Texas Employment Forecast estimates that jobs will increase by 5.1 percent in 2021, with an 80 percent confidence band of 4.6 to 5.6 percent.

The forecast strengthened from the 4.6 percent estimated with the release of the August data.

“With COVID-19 hospitalizations in Texas declining since early September, leisure and hospitality and retail jobs have bounced back strongly,” said Keith Phillips, Dallas Fed assistant vice president and senior economist. “Jobs in the energy sector also grew strongly as oil prices remained well above break-even levels. While consumer demand remains strong, the strength of job growth is somewhat surprising given both labor market tightness and supply-chain challenges faced by businesses. Supply-chain issues likely damped growth in September as 64.5 percent of contacts in our business surveys reported having supply-chain disruptions, up from 61.0 percent in June.”   

Additional key takeaways from the latest Dallas Fed report:

  • Based on the forecast, 626,600 jobs will be added in the state this year, and employment in December 2021 will be 13.0 million.
  • The Texas Leading Index increased strongly for the second consecutive month.
  • Unemployment rates in September declined in Fort Worth–Arlington, Houston and McAllen–Edinburg–Mission; they stayed the same in Austin–Round Rock, Dallas–Plano–Irving, El Paso and San Antonio–New Braunfels and increased in Brownsville–Harlingen and Laredo, according to seasonally adjusted numbers from the Dallas Fed.
  • The Texas unemployment rate declined from 5.9 percent in August to 5.6 percent in September.

Additional information about the Texas Employment Forecast, plus seasonally adjusted and benchmarked Texas jobs data and metro unemployment rates may be found on DallasFed.org.

(Press release from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas)