Beacon Employment Report Texas – Regional Overview

The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro saw a sizable increase of 16,900 jobs in the latest numbers. This metro area accounted for more than one-third of the net jobs added in the state in January, representing a 0.4% employment increase on a month-over-month basis, and a 5.7% increase year-over-year.

Since February 2020, which marks the pre-pandemic peak of payroll employment, Texas has seen an increase of 6.3% in nonfarm employment, compared to 1.8% nationally. The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area has accounted for nearly half (43%) of the nonfarm payrolls added and now accounts for more than 30% of nonfarm employment in the state.

The Houston-Woodlands-Sugar Land area posted a notable increase of 9,800 nonfarm jobs in January. This represents a 0.3% employment increase on a month-over-month basis and a 4.9% increase year-over-year. In absolute terms, this metro has added nearly 155,000 new jobs over the last twelve months.

The Austin-Round Rock metro has seen the largest increase compared to the pre-pandemic peak, with payroll employment 13.4% above February 2020 levels, while Texarkana (-1.7%), Odessa (-2.4%), and Beaumont-Port Arthur (-2.9%) have seen the largest decreases in employment.