Tarrant Business

Texas' service sector activity grew in March, but at slower pace, Dallas Fed says

Activity in Texas’ service sector increased in March, although some indicators suggested growth slowed, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas reported today in its monthly Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey.

Services represent 59 percent of the Texas economy, employing nearly 7 million workers.

The survey’s revenue index fell to 16.5 from 22.8, which “suggests revenue growth slowed slightly,” the Dallas Fed said.

Positive readings in the survey indicate expansion.

Labor market: “Indicators also reflected slower growth,” the Fed said. The employment index fell to 7.7, lowest in four months. The hours-worked index “edged down but remained in positive territory.”

Broader economy: General business conditions “remained strong but declined slightly.” The general business activity index moved down to 18.9, its fifth consecutive positive reading.

Indexes of future service sector activity “remained in positive territory,” the Fed said.

The survey’s retail component indicated retail sales rose to 22 from 17.5, “marking 10 consecutive months of sales increases. Inventories rose.”

- Scott Nishimura

Texas unemployment dips to 7.3 percent

Texas employers added 67,200 nonfarm payroll jobs in January and the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 7.3 percent in January, down from 7.4 percent in December and down from 8.1 percent a year earlier. It's the state's lowest jobless rate since April 2009 and compares to the U.S. jobless rate of 8.3 percent. The Texas Workforce Commission said the state has added jobs 21 straight months when compared to the same month the previous year, and payroll jobs are up 258,200 in the past year. Private employers added 73,800 jobs in January, or 332,600 in the past year. TWC Chairman Tom Pauken noted that mining and logging, the category that includes oil and gas, added more than 38,000 jobs in the past year, including 5,700 in January, as crude oil prices have surged.

Nine of the 11 major industry groups added jobs in January, led by professional and business services, which added 18,100 jobs over the month and is up 69,500 jobs in the past year, or 5.3 percent, TWC said today. The report was released later than normal and coincided with the release of the U.S. jobless date for February, which showed the national unemployment rate unchanged at 8.3 percent.

-- Jim Fuquay

Midlothian cement kilns to adopt cleaner technology

Ash Grove Cement Co. filed a permit with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality seeking to close two of three cement kilns in Midlothian and convert the third kiln to a less-polluting production method,  according to a release issued Monday by Downwinders at Risk. Downwinders says it has worked about 20 years to reduce emissions from cement kilns in the area. It said Ash Grove's permit states that the conversion of the remaining kiln to a "dry" process will cut 105,000 tons of air pollution annually. The facility's capacity will drop from nearly 1.2 million tons of cement annually to 949,000 tons, according to Downwinders' release.

-- Jim Fuquay

BNSF says it will spend about $3.9 billion on capital projects this year, up $400 milliion

BNSF Railway Co. said Wednesday it planned a 2012 capital commitment of about $3.9 billion, $400 million over what it spent in 2011.

About $2.1 billion of the plan will be BNSF's core network and related assets, the company said. BNSF also plans to spend about $1.1 billion on locomotive, freight car, and other equipment acquisitions; $300 million for federally-mandated "positive train control" technology to help reduce risk of accidents; and $400 million for terminal, line, and intermodal expansion and efficiency projects that will be focused on coal routes and the new BNSF intermodal center at Kansas City.

"Investment in BNSF's rail freight infrastructure is an investment in American jobs and competitiveness," Matt Rose, BNSF's CEO, said in a release. "It will ensure our infrastructure remains strong and improve the efficiency of our operations."

A BNSF spokesman said the company expected to have a breakdown by market in three to six weeks of the planned expenditures.

- Scott Nishimura

Texas service sector improves, Dallas Fed reports

Texas service sector activity increased in January, the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank said Tuesday in its monthly Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey.

The Texas service sector represents 59 percent of the state economy and employs close to 7 million workers.

The revenue index--a key measure -- rose to 13.7 from 9.8, with 32 percent of respondents noting revenue increased from December.

Positive readings in the survey generally indicate expansion of service sector activity.

Labor market indicators reflected “stronger hiring and slightly longer workweeks,” the Dallas Fed said. The employment index moved up to 12.4 from 8.8, its best reading in 10 months.

Perceptions of general business conditions “improved markedly” in January, with the general business activity index jumping to 18.3, its best reading since December 2010.

Indexes of future service sector activity “generally improved” from last month, and expectations regarding future business conditions were “more optimistic,” the Dallas Fed said.

 In the survey’s Texas Retail Outlook, retail sales increased in January, according to business executives responding to the retail portion of the survey. The sales index edged down to 12.1 from 13.7, eight consecutive months of sales increases.

 “Indexes of future retail sector activity remained in solid positive territory in January,” the Dallas Fed said.

- Scott Nishimura

DFW retail auto sales increase more than U.S. in 2011

Retail sales of new cars and light trucks increased 14 percent in Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex in 2011, according to registration data compiled and released Thursday by Freeman Publishers of Dallas. That compares to a 10.2 percent overall increase of the entire U.S. market.

December sales increased about 9 percent in each of the four counties, except Tarrant where sales gained less than 8 percent for the month.

For the full year sales increased 14.6 percent in Tarrant, 13.4 percent in Dallas, 12.6 percent in Collin and 16 percent in Denton, compared to 2010. The retail sales numbers exclude sales to rental car companies and other fleet buyers.

- Bob Cox

 

Area bankruptcy filings down in 2011

Local bankruptcy filings fell 14 percent last year, mirroring a national trend. There were 7,199 bankruptcy filings, both business and consumer, in 2011 at the Fort Worth federal bankruptcy court, which serves Tarrant and several nearby counties. That was down 14.3 percent from the 8,398 filings in 2010 and the lowest number since 2008.

The slide in filings tracks the rest of country, which saw nearly 1.4 million filings. The American Bankruptcy Institute said that was down 11.4 percent from 2010 and also the lowest since 2008, when the financial crisis took hold.

-- Jim Fuquay

 

MetLife to lay off more than 800 in Irving

More than 800 Irving employees of MetLife Inc.’s mortgage origination operation will lose their jobs when the country’s biggest life insurer closes the unit, which has 4,300 workers nationwide. “The majority will no longer have a position,” said John Calagna, a spokesman for New York-based MetLife, told Bloomberg News Tuesday. About 20 percent of the unit’s employees work in  Irving, and the rest are scattered throughout the U.S., he said.

MetLife in October announced plans to sell its mortgage unit. Last month it sold $7.5 billion of bank deposits to General Electric Co. The Federal Reserve, which oversees MetLife because of its size and banking operations, rejected its plan last year to raise the dividend and resume share buybacks.

-- Jim Fuquay

 

Roanoke warehouse to lay off 130

DSC Logistics has notified the Texas Workforce Commission that it plans to lay off about 130 people permanently from the workforce at its Roanoke warehouse at 300 Gateway Parkway. Layoffs will begin in early March.

In an emailed statement to the Star-Telegram on Tuesday the Des Plaines, Ill.-based warehouse and staging company said that the primary customer for the Roanoke facility, Kimberly Clark Healthcare Division, had reconfigured its distribution network.

The company lists a total of 156 employees at Roanoke. WARN notices of the impending layoffs were issued to employees last week.

The company said in its statement that it "highly values every employee" of the Roanoke facility "and will make every effort to place these employees at other DSC locations in the area. DSC manages and operates logistics centers for all three Kimberly-Clark divisions (Health Care, Consumer and Professional) in the DFW Metroplex, and DSC's strategic partnerships with Kimberly-Clark's Consumer and Professional divisions are not affected by this decision."

On its website the DSC lists among its customers major retailers such as Kohl's, food manufacturers such as Kellogg and even manufacturers such as Whirlpool. 

- Bob Cox

Texas' job growth expected to continue at slower clip in 2012

Here's the Star-Telegram's print story from the weekend on Texas' job outlook for the New Year.

- Scott Nishimura