Search Results
Journal Article
Spotlight: Texas service sector outlook survey completing the regional economic picture
The service sector drives the Texas economy, accounting for 59 percent of private-sector output and employing close to 7 million workers. Despite the service sector?s prominence, there are no timely state-level gauges of its activity. To fill this regional data gap, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas began assembling the Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey (TSSOS) in 2007. After a four-year collection period, the data have been seasonally adjusted, with public release June 1.
Journal Article
Getting to the bottom of Texas' Latino pay gap
Among Latinos, the U.S. born make up a majority in Texas but a minority in the rest of the country. Because natives typically earn more than immigrants, a state with a large, established population of U.S.-born Latinos might be expected to have relatively high Latino wages. That's not the case in Texas. The Latino wage gap--the difference between the wages of Latinos and non-Hispanic whites--is significantly larger in Texas than in the rest of the nation. ; What drives the gap in Texas? To find out, we look at Latinos' recent contributions to the state's labor force and trends in their wages ...
Journal Article
New Technology Boosts Texas Firms' Output, Alters Worker Mix
A Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas survey of manufacturing and services firms in Texas found that as companies adopt new technologies, the number of workers is little changed though the employees? skill levels shift. While some manufacturers see tighter margins as a result of technology and globalization, service sector firms may realize increased pricing power.
Journal Article
No bull: Cattle prices reach record high, herd size lowest since 1950
The number of Texas cattle are at a multi-decade low at a time of strong demand and relatively high consumer prices. Dr. David Anderson, a Texas A&M University professor and extension economist, discusses with Dallas Fed economist Emily Kerr what’s driving the market, making even hamburger pricey.
Has the Beige Book become disconnected from economic data?
The Federal Reserve's Beige Book, a key tool for identifying U.S. business-cycle shifts, has traditionally aligned with economic data. However, postpandemic, its economic characterizations often appear weaker than what hard data indicated, raising concerns of divergence from official statistics.
Working Paper
Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey: survey methodology and performance
The Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey (TMOS) is a monthly survey of area manufacturers conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. TMOS indexes provide timely information on manufacturing activity in Texas, which is useful for understanding broader changes in regional economic conditions. This paper describes the survey methodology and analyzes the explanatory and predictive power of TMOS indexes with regard to other measures of state economic activity. Regression analysis shows that several TMOS indexes successfully explain monthly changes in Texas employment and quarterly changes in ...
Texas economy grows modestly; business outlooks brighten
The Texas economy exhibited recent signs of expansion, though job growth has slowed. A measure of economic activity, The Dallas Fed Texas Business Outlook Surveys (TBOS), shows moderate gains in services revenue, a resumption of retail sales increases and stable manufacturing production.
Wage growth still exceeds 3 percent despite slowing in business survey measures
Fed policymakers working to reduce inflation have closely monitored how fast wages have risen. National estimates put recent 12-month wage inflation at around 4–5 percent, though these measures can lag other indicators of labor market conditions. More timely wage data can be found from the five regional Federal Reserve Banks that run business surveys.
Journal Article
Noteworthy: Texas exports: NAFTA markets spur trade turnaround
Upturns in the Mexican and Canadian economies, coupled with the dollar's declining value, fed strong Texas export growth in the second half of 2009. The state's real exports increased 15.8 percent from the second to fourth quarter, and the United States' NAFTA partners played a key role.
Texas modestly grows with soft landing likely
Texas firms reported below-average output growth to start 2023, while employment and wage gains remained elevated despite indications of a softening labor market.