D-FW has a strong labor market

The Dallas metro is one of the top labor markets in the country, per a new Wall Street Journal and Moody's Analytics assessment.

Driving the news: Dallas ranked as the 10th strongest labor market of major metropolitan areas with a population of more than 1 million, per the Journal analysis.

• The rankings factored the unemployment rate, labor-force participation rate, changes to employment levels, the size of the labor force and wages.

Why it matters: Dallas-Fort Worth grew the most among U.S. metros last year, adding more than 150,000 people between July 2022 and July 2023, per U.S. Census data.

• With a strong labor market, the region's dominance is likely to continue.

The big picture: Texas had two metros in the Top 10 — Austin and Dallas — compared to Florida's three.

• Salt Lake City was the top-ranked labor market, in part because it's more affordable than traditional tech cities.

Between the lines: Job growth has exceeded expectations nationwide, with a March labor report showing the strongest growth in 10 months.

• Texas' unemployment rate is on par with the national rate.

Yes, but: Dallas was behind Austin, which was ranked seventh in the WSJ analysis.

• The D-FW metro struggled with its unemployment rate, which at 4.2% in February was above that month's national rate of 3.9%.