Dallas Fed: Texas adds 12,800 jobs in February; unemployment rates fall in nine major metro areas

For immediate release: March 26, 2015

DALLAS—Texas added 12,800 jobs in February, according to seasonally adjusted and benchmarked payroll employment numbers released today by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

The state added a revised 15,200 jobs in January. Through the first two months of 2015, jobs have grown at an annualized pace of 1.4 percent after growing 3.4 percent in 2014.

Unemployment rates fell in nine major Texas metro areas in February, according to seasonally adjusted numbers from the Dallas Fed. The largest fall in the unemployment rate was seen in Brownsville-Harlingen, from 7.3 percent in January to 6.9 percent in February.

The Dallas Fed improves the Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) payroll employment estimates for Texas by incorporating preliminary benchmarks into the data in a more timely manner and by using a two-step seasonal adjustment technique. Texas metropolitan area unemployment rates from the BLS also are seasonally adjusted by the Dallas Fed.

The Dallas Fed also offers seasonally adjusted employment data by industry at the state and metro levels for Texas.

Next Release Date: April 17

-30-

Media contact:
Justin Jones
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
Phone: 214-922-5449
Email: Justin.Jones@dal.frb.org