Our Take on the Economic Outlook for DFW

 

Everyone in Texas has been keeping an eye on the price of oil. While we are not directly involved in the oil & gas sector, we have plenty of friends and colleagues who are – and at the moment, the outlook appears dicey.

The price of oil plunged to $27/barrel on Wednesday, and most analysts suggest the price needs to stay in the $40-50 range to mirror the state’s job growth from last year. It’s a fine line, isn’t it? While everyone is enjoying lower gas prices, and saving hundreds of dollars, the hit to the oil industry is massive. We are hoping those affected by falling oil prices can hang on.

An interesting note came from Keith Phillips, the Assistant Vice President and Senior Economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. This quote is from the Dallas Business Journal:

    “San Antonio, Dallas and Austin are forecast to post moderate to strong job growth, and Fort Worth may improve if manufacturing picks up.”

We can echo that sentiment. At Fort Construction, we are fortunate to have on-going work and we continue to seek new projects. The slow down in the oil & gas sector has given us the opportunity to hire qualified candidates from that industry. We have found their skill sets highly transferable to the construction industry, and we have added a number of terrific people to the Fort family.

We are very fortunate to have a more diverse economy in Dallas/Fort Worth. And while we are grateful for our continued growth, we also send our best wishes to those in oil & gas.