About a week ago, Texas released its worst employment report in months, losing 27,500 jobs in February.
But that contraction may soon become a distant memory, because the economy finally seems ready to take off.
In a March survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Texas manufacturing executives reported big gains in output, new orders and shipments. On two key metrics — production and capacity utilization — the Dallas Fed index readings were the highest in the survey’s 17-year history.