Houston Economic Indicators Slow Down

The economic outlook for the Houston metro softened over the past three months, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Houston jobs were revised down by more than 20,400 from the initial Q2 2018 estimate, meaning job growth fell from an annual 3.3% from December 2017-October 2018, to 2.4%. However, job growth is still above the historical average rate of 2.1%, and Houston is on track to add approximately 73,000 jobs in 2018.

In October 2018, the Houston labor force increased by 20,000 workers, representing the largest increase since February 2018, and the second largest since April 2010. On a year-to-date basis, Houston’s labor force grew by 2.7%, with Dallas Fed analysts noting that labor force growth in Texas was 1.9% and 1.1% nationally.