DALLAS REGION LOSES JOBS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A DECADE

Eric Griffin, Managing Director, Research & Innovation

The Dallas Region had 283,000 fewer jobs in April 2020 compared with April 2019 due to business restrictions designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. If any silver lining can be found, it is that at -7.6%, the rate of job loss in the Dallas Region is not as steep as in the other largest U.S. metros.

Download the full report: Economy in Brief: Indicators for the Dallas Region

The regional unemployment rate reached 12.8% in April 2020, a pandemic-induced economic toll unimaginable at the start of this year. Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the official U.S. jobless rate for May 2020. With an unexpected decrease of 1.4 percentage points, the national rate now stands at 13.3%, providing some measure of hope that the state and metropolitan rates will follow suit when official figures are released later in June.

Initial unemployment insurance (UI) claims in North Texas have continued to pile up, exceeding half a million since the beginning of March. Even though the number of weekly claims is consistently diminishing, the Dallas Region posted 27,000 initial UI claims during the week ending May 23, 2020. As the economy continues to open in phases, that number should continue to fall.

More hopeful news came in May as the Dallas Region added to the number of Fortune 500 companies with the relocation of Core-Mark from California. The Dallas Region is home to three Fortune 10 companies. No other U.S. metro has more than one, and the three metros larger than Dallas – New York, Los Angeles and Chicago – have none. However, the annual Fortune 500 rankings represent a look at the past. The energy, retail, and travel industries have been hit particularly hard during the current downturn, and all are heavily represented by Dallas Region-based companies on this year’s list.

“Economy in Brief: Indicators for the Dallas Region” is an ongoing series, presented by Bank of America, that offers easily digestible insights into our economic landscape. The data points and analysis tools allow our business community to make informed decisions based on trends. Our reporting also measures the impact of COVID-19 on our economy.