All’s quiet on the northern Texas jobs front.
The Dallas-Fort Worth region continues to create jobs at a healthy clip, mirroring resilience at the state and federal level as tariffs and inflation generate economic headwinds.
On Friday, the Labor Department showed that the U.S. economy added 139,000 jobs in May, down slightly from the previous month but better than expected as whipsaw tariff policy amplifies growth fears. The national unemployment rate held steady around 4.2%
Meanwhile, recent data suggests the D-FW labor market is as strong as ever, with the area’s unemployment rate sitting at 3.5% in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is comfortably below statewide unemployment rate of 4.1%.
Overall, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas forecasts Texas jobs will grow by 1.7% this year, boosted by growth in professional and business services, in addition to construction and manufacturing.
In fact, Texas spends nearly $90 billion annually on commercial construction alone, according to construction supply company Twisted Nail. That represents a five-year increase of around 117% in total commercial construction investment, buttressing growth in the Dallas area, a well-known real estate boomtown.
And D-FW area joblessness remains historically low, according to Dallas Fed data, with the region enjoying the lowest unemployment rate compared to other metro areas such as San Antonio, El Paso and Austin.
Taken together, the regional boom has offset retrenchment in other sectors like retail and transportation. In recent days, Jenney and FedEx have issued layoff notices for their respective D-FW based workforces.
With uncertainty swirling around the world’s largest economy in the U.S., the Lone Star State’s labor market hasn’t lost much momentum, setting records in total jobs and the size of those working in the civilian labor force, according to the Texas Workforce Commission.
As of April (the most recent month available), the state’s nonfarm jobs have expanded by 215,000 — dwarfing the U.S. growth rate. Year over year, Texas’ fastest-growing industries included construction, financial services and private education/health services, TWC data showed.
D-FW continues to enjoy the single largest concentration of positions in Texas, ing for more than 4.5 million of the state’s nearly 16 million-strong civilian workforce. With Texas becoming known as “the headquarters of headquarters,” big and small companies are still migrating to the region to tap into the growth story.
Technology and finance have been an impetus behind D-FW’s boom, with tech company Fiberlight announcing last month that it was relocating its HQ to Plano to be closer to “its operational core.”
In a statement, FiberLight said the move “also positions the company to grow its workforce and contribute to the region’s economy.”
According to the company, “the new headquarters spans nearly 11,000 square feet and is home to more than 65 employees across executive leadership, people and culture, business development, public sector, sales, engineering, IT, and vendor management.”