Outlook for North American Trade and Immigration
Tariffs, immigration and nearshoring are the current defining topics for the U.S.–Mexico relationship. The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and the Peterson Institute for International Economics will host a conference April 10, 2025, on the economic outlook for North America through the lens of these issues.
April 10, 2025
Texas economic outlook downbeat as uncertainty increases
The Texas economy grew slightly below trend through the first quarter of 2025. While job growth appears just off its long-term annual trend rate of about 2.1 percent, the Dallas Fed Texas Business Outlook Surveys (TBOS) point to slowing activity in both the services and manufacturing sectors.
April 03, 2025
Even a ‘miracle’ needs a safety net: Texas leads in growth, lags elsewhere
While experiencing exceptional economic growth over the past decade, data show that Texas is last or lagging the nation in several key areas.
March 25, 2025
Research Department Working Papers
Labor Market Effects of Worker- and Employer-Targeted Immigration Enforcement
This paper finds that immigration enforcement at the worksite is more effective when targeting the employer, such as conducting an audit, than when targeting the workers, such as in a raid.
November 19, 2024
Research Department Working Papers
The Postpandemic U.S. Immigration Surge: New Facts and Inflationary Implications
This paper combines administrative data on border encounters and immigration court records with household survey data to document two new facts about these immigrants: They tend to be hand-to-mouth consumers and low-skilled workers that complement the existing workforce. The authors build these features into a model with capital, household heterogeneity and population growth to study the inflationary effects of this episode.
October 01, 2024
Surging population growth from immigration may have little effect on inflation
U.S. population growth increased sharply recently following a wave of immigration. This article examines what this surprise immigration surge could mean for the macroeconomy.
July 09, 2024
Unprecedented U.S. immigration surge boosts job growth, output
U.S. labor market conditions are among the main drivers of an unprecedented surge of immigration, the exact size and consequences of which are still being assessed.
July 02, 2024
Widening gap between rich and poor poses challenge to U.S.
Economist Jeffrey Fuhrer, a nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution and former Boston Fed director of research, discusses the nation’s income and wealth gaps and offers proposals to close them. Fuhrer’s recently published book, “The Myth that Made Us,” explores inequalities in the nation’s economic system.
December 13, 2023
State output remains distinctly Texan, while jobs mix increasingly resembles the U.S.
Lore and data have historically suggested that Texas is unlike any other place. Over the past 40 years, change has swept the state. Texas’ employment composition has increasingly come to resemble the entirety of the U.S., more so than even California or New York. But Texas economic output is another story.
November 17, 2023
Southwest Economy, Fourth Quarter 2022
Texas economy rides wave of changing technology and diffusion of know-how
Data on patents and employment show that Texas is a major center of innovation and high-tech employment.
December 22, 2022