The Texas economy should be strong across all sectors in 2018, with expected job growth this year at a strong 3% or 366,000 new workers, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Keith Phillips, the Chief Economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, told a group in San Antonio that is compared to 2.5% job growth in 2017.
"Coming into this year, we see very broad based growth across the state in terms of regions and industries," he said, adding that the cities along the I-35 corridor, from Dallas through Austin to San Antonio, should fare the best in the coming year.
But Phillips says the oil patch has not suffered the same economic downturns it has seen in previous drops in oil prices, due largely to a much more diverse employment sector.
"I think one of the reasons why job growth won't be above 3% in Texas is scarcity of labor," he said.
Phillips says there are two risks to his rosy forecast. One is a prolonged drop in global oil prices to under $40 a barrel, and the other would be protectionist moves in Washington that would endanger the state's booming foreign trade.
Phillips says the job growth is extraordinary considering the increasing growth of automation in all employment sectors, the coming of on line 'disruptors' from Amazon to Uber, and the fact that the heart of the Baby Boom generation is now moving into their retirement years.
And Phillips says Texas will face one challenge in 2018. He says in previous years, Texas could count on weaker economies elsewhere providing the expanding Texas job market plenty of new workers. He says now that the economy is strong nationwide, that pool of workers won't be available.
"Represents some challenge to attracting workers from outside of Texas, since the job conditions nationwide are quite tight in terms of labor market."