Dallas-Fort Worth Retail Market Report

Aggressive labor market underpins consumer strength. Dallas-Fort Worth added no fewer than 60,000 workers in each of the past four quarters through midyear 2022. The total addition of 311,000 positions during that span ranks as the largest in the nation, edging out a rebounding New York City by a small margin, while outpacing markets like Chicago and Los Angeles by 80,000 to 100,000 personnel. This is noteworthy, as the other metros mentioned had greater disruptions at the onset of the pandemic, thus more jobs to recover. Dallas-Fort Worth's labor market is outperforming, despite eclipsing its pre-pandemic peak back in August 2021. The quick expansion has, in turn, compressed Metroplex unemployment to 3.5 percent in July 2022, encouraging local firms to bring in workers from outside of the market, boosting net in-migration. Robust job trends and population inflows are broadening the consumer base, bolstering demand for shopping and entertainment.