Texas Service Sector Keeps Growing as Business Outlook Brightens
The Dallas Fed's July survey showed steady service-sector expansion and rising confidence, with Austin leading the state's major metros.
Texas's service economy kept expanding in July, and the executives who run it grew more upbeat about the months ahead, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
The Dallas Fed's Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey showed revenue growth holding roughly steady, with the revenue index little changed at 9.5. More striking was the shift in sentiment: the general business activity index climbed four points to 6.6, while the company outlook index jumped from 6.1 to 10.4. Hiring cooled, however, with the employment index sliding from 8.1 to 2.6.
Austin leads the metros
Among the state's biggest metros, Austin posted the fastest growth at 5.8 percent, ahead of Fort Worth at 3.9 percent, Dallas at 3.7 percent and Houston at 2.7 percent.
Business leaders flagged familiar worries — fuel costs, interest rates, geopolitics and government policy — but many pointed to strong hiring demand, busier commercial lending, and a wave of AI and data-center investment as forces pushing the Texas economy forward.
Sources: Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Fort Worth Inc..
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