Total nonfarm employment in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area stood at 3,101,300 in January 2014, up 95,900 over the year. From January 2013 to January 2014, local nonfarm employment rose 3.2 percent, well above the national increase of 1.8 percent. Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that among the 12 largest metropolitan areas in the country, Dallas ranked second in the rate of job growth and third in the number of jobs added last year.
Dallas- Fort Worth is the largest metro area in the State of Texas and is ranked 4th Largest nationally with more than 6.8 million residents as of 2013. The local population increased by approximately 110,000 persons last year. The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area consists of two metropolitan divisions –separately identifiable employment centers within the larger metropolitan area. The Dallas-Plano-Irving Metropolitan Division, which accounted for 70 percent of the area's workforce, added 70,500 jobs during 2013, a gain of 3.3 percent. The Fort Worth-Arlington Metropolitan Division, which accounted for the remaining 30 percent of the area workforce, added 25,400 jobs during the 12-month period, a 2.8-percent increase.
Texas’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 5.2 percent from 5.5 percent in March 2014, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. That was far less than the previous U.S. jobless rate of 6.3 percent. Texas led all states in job creation for the month of April and the last 12 months, according to BLS data. California was No. 2 for each period, with 56,100 new jobs last month and 340,200 over the last year. Florida was no. 3 with 34,000 jobs in April and 246,800 in the last year. For the last 12 months, Texas added 348,000 jobs, with gains in all 11 major industry groups gaining. The energy industry has seen the fastest growth in that time, with employment up 7.5 percent.
The DFW metroplex’s current unemployment rate, as of April 2014, is 4.7 percent, much lower than the current rate of 5.9 percent. An Estimated 1,000,000 new persons will be living in the DFW area in the next six years and annual job growth will be in the 3-4% range.