Lone Star job growth cools in July

​​​​DALLAS – Texas employment will grow 2.7 percent this year, according to the Texas Employment Forecast by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. 

The prediction fell from 3 percent after incorporating July’s annualized employment growth of 1.3 percent. 

"After growing at a strong pace of 3.7 percent during the first five months of the year, job growth has cooled over the past two months," said Keith R. Phillips, Dallas Fed assistant vice president and senior economist. "Manufacturing employment declined in July after surging in the first half of the year. Also, the reconstruction efforts following Hurricane Harvey may be starting to slow as job growth in Houston has weakened." 

Based on the forecast, the state will add 337,700 jobs this year. Employment in December 2018 will reach 12.7 million.

"Overall the forecast suggests that 2018 will be a good year for the Texas economy, although the second half will be more subdued than the very strong first half," said Phillips.