Austin Unemployment Falls, Job Growth Weak

The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas’ July 2017 economic indicators for Austin show a Business-Cycle index growing at a 4.8%, a shade below the 4.9% reported in June 2017. The reason for the slight decline is due to “recent weak job growth,” according to the Dallas Fed, though “rapid declines in the unemployment rate have propelled the index.

The July unemployment rate stood at 2.8%, well below the Texas and national rate of 4.3%. The rate puts Austin at the second-lowest jobless rate, behind Denver, CO. Jobs, however, fell by 0.5% over the three months ending in July, with declines concentrated in professional and business services, and public sector jobs.

Home affordability declined in Q2 2017 to its lowest level in a decade, while home sales in Austin remained near all-time highs in July.

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