Wichita Falls economy slightly up in August

WICHITA FALLS – The local economy continued to exhibit overall improvement during August.

Home sales during August provided a particularly favorable contribution to the local economic index, as the monthly sales volume was up by 13 percent — compared to the increase in year-to-date volume of 11 percent.

Meanwhile, the construction sector seems to be struggling to find improvement compared to activity reported for 2012. The increase in new housing permits authorized during August is encouraging, however, the 2013 year-to-date lag is less than 5 percent.

Retail sales and tax collections seem to have taken a slight decline in the month-to-month comparisons but continue to improve based on the year-to-date numbers for August.

The energy sector continues to show positive change in the price statistics, but new production in the North Texas area is apparently beginning to slow down, compared to 2012 activity.

The Wichita Falls region is experiencing a decline in the unemployment rate, but also appears to be losing jobs, both in comparison to January 2013 and to August 2013.