Texas labor force tops 14 million as monthly job growth continues

Posted by USFC Team on Apr 22, 2019 11:10:56 PM

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Texas marked its 107th consecutive month of job gains in March, according to data released Friday by the state's workforce commission.

The state added 22,600 jobs in March, up from the 17,700 it added in February. Much of the state's job growth was driven by the private sector in March, though it continues to grow at a slower rate than in the past.

"Our labor force is thriving," said Julian Alvarez, a TWC commissioner who represents labor. He noted that the state's labor force also topped 14 million for the first time.

Alvarez, in prepared remarks, credited the state's focus on skills training and career options as partly responsible for drawing more Texans into the work force.

Unemployment remained at 3.8% in March, where it has been since January. The Midland metro area recorded the lowest unemployment rate in the state at 2.1%.

In Dallas-Fort Worth, unemployment dropped to 3.3% in March, down from 3.6% in February, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. All of Texas' major metro areas reported strong employment, as Austin checked in with a 2.7% jobless rate, San Antonio at 3.1% and Houston at 3.7%.

Low unemployment is a trend economists are closely watching in Texas' tight labor market. "Businesses around the state are continuing to have extreme difficulty finding qualified workers," said Dallas Federal Reserve Bank assistant economist Chris Slijk. "If labor markets weren't so tight, we'd be seeing even stronger job growth."

Construction, a sector that's been fraught with labor shortages, grew at a slightly faster rate in March than it has in previous months, adding 5,100 jobs. A tight labor market has increased construction costs around the country as builders and farmers try to hire more immigrants.

Dallas-Fort Worth accounted for about 40% of the state's March jobs gains, adding 9,100 jobs in the month. That growth largely came in the professional services sector, which includes everything from lawyers and accountants to engineers and IT workers, Slijk said.

"Where Dallas is doing extremely well, Fort Worth [job] growth is kind of flattening out," Slijk said.

The Dallas Fed also boosted its annual jobs growth prediction on Friday, raising its outlook to a 1.8% increase from its previous 1.5% forecast.

This is an original article by Dom DiFurio, Breaking Business News Reporter at Dallas News. A copy of the original article can be found here.

Topics: Dallas Fort-Worth, low unemployment, Texas labor force, Job growth, construction

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