Dallas Fed: Texas economy gaining strength

​TEXAS – The economy added fewer jobs in August 2016 than the previous month, but there are still signs that hiring has picked up from the beginning of 2016, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas​.

A total of 25,700 jobs were added in August 2016, down from 31,300 in July 2016.

New hirings have increased at an annualized rate of 0.8 percent since a sluggish start to the beginning of 2016, down from a 1.3 percent pick up in 2015. 

But the Dallas Fed now expects 138,200 jobs will be added in 2016 which would be a 1.2 percent growth and more in line with last year’s numbers.

Dallas Fed Senior Economist Keith Phillips said in a statement the figures “suggest that Texas will finish the second half of the year much stronger than the first.”