Axios Dallas

August 31, 2023
Happy Thursday! Respect every life you encounter.
☀️ Today's weather: High hovering below 100.
🎵 Sounds like: "Texas (When I Die)"
🎂 Happy early birthday to our Axios Dallas member Ella Khan!
👕 Member alert: All this week, please support local journalism by becoming an Axios Dallas member starting at $50/year. Details below.
⚖️ Situational awareness: A state district judge has ruled that the so-called Death Star bill which would limit cities and counties from making local rules is unconstitutional. The law was set to get into effect tomorrow.
Today's newsletter is 818 native words — a 3-minute read.
1 big thing: Texans stay in Texas
Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
Texans are notorious for being loud and proud about our state, and now research backs up what we already know — if you're born here, you stay here.
Driving the news: Texans are the most likely to stay in their home state compared to natives of other states, according to a new Dallas Fed report that measures where people are likely to stick around.
- 82% of native Texans stay. By comparison, Wyoming has the lowest retention, with just about 45% staying in the state.
Why it matters: Texas is attractive to natives and non-natives alike because it offers several large metropolitan areas to live, ample job opportunities, and a relatively low cost of living compared to other states.
- That Texans stay is an additional draw to prospective residents, per the report. The state lags only Florida in attracting residents from elsewhere.
Zoom out: The report analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data to determine the share of people born in a state who stay.
- North Carolina (75.5%), Georgia (74.2%), California (73%), and Utah (72.9%) rounded out the list of "stickiest" states.
State of play: Texas, like the other "stickiest" states, recorded above average job growth between 2010 and 2019, making it more appealing for residents to stay.
- The latest employment forecast predicts jobs will increase by 3% this year.
Reality check: There is some economic cooling in Texas. Retail sales remained flat in August, and placements of new orders from Texas manufacturers have been declining for a year.
Yes, but: Overall, the Texas economy is still faring well, despite national concerns that this year could bring a recession.
- "There's reason to be hopeful," Dallas Fed senior business economist Emily Kerr tells Axios. "We don't see a lot of mayday signs."
2. 🌡 Heatwave's business impact
Texas workers have needed more breaks in the extreme heat this summer. Photo: Sergio Flores/Bloomberg via Getty Images
This summer's heatwave negatively affected revenue and production at about a quarter of Texas businesses surveyed by the Dallas Fed.
Driving the news: For the first time in its monthly manufacturing and service sector surveys, the bank asked hundreds of Texas business executives about the impact of record-breaking heat.
- Retailers and manufacturers that reported a decrease in revenue or production said lower customer demand and lower labor productivity led to the declines.
Why it matters: The survey quantifies what many of us are hearing anecdotally — people are less likely to go out, and workers are struggling in the heat.
Details: Lower customer demand was the primary driver of decreases in revenue for retail businesses.
- Manufacturers reported that decreased revenue and production were driven by lower labor productivity and workers struggling to toil in extreme temperatures.
Of note: Most of the businesses that reported a decrease in production and revenue to the Dallas Fed said the drop was slight. Just about 5% reported a significant decline.
The bottom line: The summer heatwave is predicted to cost the Texas economy nearly $10 billion, per an analysis by The Perryman Group, an economic consulting firm.
- The projected losses are due in part to declining productivity as workers struggle in extreme temperatures, per the Houston Chronicle.
3. 🎊 Axios Dallas Weekender
Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
🎺 Harmonize. The Black Academy of Arts and Letters is hosting the three-day Riverfront Jazz Festival.
- Friday-Sunday at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. One-day tickets or three-day passes available.
💃 Boogie-woogie. Learn to swing in a beginner's session and then rock step with the Denton Swing Dance Organization at Green Space Arts Collective.
- Lesson begins at 7pm. Social dance is 8pm-11pm. $7.
🎻 You can never leave. The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra plays "Hotel California: A Salute to the Eagles."
- 7:30pm Friday and Saturday, 2pm Sunday at Bass Performance Hall.
🍿 Feel the need for speed. Watch "Top Gun: Maverick" at Klyde Warren Park.
- 8pm Saturday at the Ginsburg Family Great Lawn. Free.
4. 🗞 Burnt ends: Bite-sized news bits
News that's riveting. Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
🪧 American Airlines flight attendants voted to authorize a strike amid contract negotiations with the Fort Worth-based airline. (KERA)
🧾 Tarrant County will likely have to cover the $7 million cost of a COVID vaccination rollout by the UNT Health Science Center that was more expensive per shot than originally agreed. FEMA funds won't cover the bill because the county didn't go through a competitive bidding process before picking UNT. (Star-Telegram)
⚖️ A Mesquite man has been arrested on federal charges in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. (DMN)
🔌 ERCOT, the state's power grid operator, again issued an energy conservation notice yesterday afternoon. (NBC5)
🌡 A UPS worker from McKinney died Sunday, days after collapsing on his delivery route on a hot day. (WFAA)
On the job hunt?
💼Check out who's hiring on our Job Board.
- Manager, Field Marketing, BK, US Central at Restaurant Brands International.
- Director of Board Development at Evergreen.
- Director, Process Improvement at BridgeCrest.
Want more opportunities? Check out our Job Board.
Hiring? Use code FIRST50 for $50 off your first job post.
5. 👕 One membership drive to go
Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios
Are you a superfan? Consider becoming an Axios Dallas member for as little as $50 a year.
State of play: We're nearing the end of our week of giveaways as we try to hit 150 new members by tomorrow.
- Sign up today and you'll be entered to win a gift card to Bullzerk.
- All existing Axios Dallas members will automatically be entered in our drawings.
- Sweepstakes rules apply.
The bottom line: Thank you for your support. 💗
This newsletter was edited by Chloe Gonzales and copy edited by Patricia Guadalupe and Yasmeen Altaji.
Our picks:
🍸 Mike is imagining what TGI Fridays must've been like as a NYC cocktail bar.
📰 Tasha is hoping this birthday present idea becomes a trend.
🤠 Naheed is reading this Texas Monthly story about a Georgian embracing their family's Texas roots.
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