Dallas-Fort Worth Led Nation in Jobs Growth in 2018
Dallas-Fort Worth led the nation's metro areas in job growth in 2018, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Dallas-Fort Worth region added 116,400 jobs over the course of the year. New York and Houston followed closely behind, with 115,500 and 108,300 new jobs, respectively. Cheryl Abbot, regional economist for BLS's Southwest office, said D-FW's showing is “somewhat unusual” on a national scale, especially considering the size difference between it and New York. D-FW has about 7.4 million people, compared with New York's 8.6 million. Job growth had slowed a bit in North Texas in November but bounced back in December. In December, the number of Dallas-area jobs grew at 3.2 percent. Dallas and Houston have long leading roles on the national stage in job creation. The 2018 data suggest New York is growing at a much slower rate. Compared with D-FW’s 2.5 percent job growth rate a year ago, Abbot described the December 2018 numbers as “a fairly healthy increase.”
Nationally, the unemployment rate now matches Texas' 3.7 percent, a drop from 3.9 percent the previous year, according to the BLS report...
