Leading the News

FRB Dallas: Texas Factory Activity Rebounded In July.

The Dallas Morning News (7/26) reports, “Texas factory activity rebounded in July as the manufacturing sector gained strength, data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas showed Monday.” The Dallas Fed said the production index “rose from 5.6 in June to 10.8 this month. The Fed’s Manufacturing Outlook Survey also found growing activity in other measures of current manufacturing conditions: The shipments and new orders indexes rose from June to July. The shipments index rose to 7.8 after coming in at zero last month. The new orders index rose sharply from 6.4 in June to 16 in July.”

In an article on job increases in Texas, USA Today (7/26, Davidson) notes that one of “reasons for the state’s robust job growth” is an increase in exports. “Overseas shipments by Texas’ strong computer, electronics, petrochemical and other industries rose 21% last year, compared with 15% for the nation, according to the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank. The state also benefits from its proximity to Latin American countries that are big importers of US goods,” according to Moody’s economist Ed Friedman. “The surge creates jobs for Texas manufacturers and ports.”

Portland, Oregon Adds Manufacturing Jobs In June. The Portland Business Journal (7/25, Giegerich) reported, “The Portland-area’s June unemployment rate was unchanged month-to-month but decidedly lower than it was a year ago.” However, “the manufacturing sector added 1,400 jobs” last month. “Some 900 of those were in the durable goods category. Since the beginning of the year, the manufacturing sector has added 2,600 jobs, a 2.4 percent increase over 2010.”