Despite news showing negative growth in Gross Domestic Product for the first quarter 2015, most of the U.S. industries experienced growth on level of employment in April 2014 to April 2015 comparison. Besides Construction, which tends to grow faster as weather allows for outdoor activities, Leisure and hospitality industry experienced the highest average growth rate in level of employment, 2.8%. Education and Health Services seconded Hospitality with an average of 2.3%. Professional Business had 2.2% increase, while Trade and Transportation and Utilities recorded 1.8% increase.
The lowest rate of change showed up unsurprisingly in Manufacturing. Aggregate data for the industry exhibited an anemic .9% change in job creation when comparing April 2014 to April 2015. Indeed, several surveys are showing May might not have made any better difference for the sector. For instance, the Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey revealed its main Index fell to -13.5. Moreover, the employment Index declined to -8.2, which translates into shorter workweeks for employees in Texas Manufacturing Industry. On the other hand, the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond reported the employment gauge in their survey decreased from 7 to 3, though the average workweek actually increased.
In General, manufacturing conditions in Texas reflected continuing contraction during May 2015. The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas claims that these readings are the lowest in the recent six years. On the other hand, the composite manufacturing index in Richmond’s survey moved a bit up to 1, from a reading of -3 in the previous month. Manufacturing Activity “flattened in May” Richmond reported.
Categories: Macroeconomics
