With a 4.0 percent growth rate, Texas was 0.8 points ahead of the next-closest state: Utah. This growth is down from its Q1 and Q2 rates of 5.3 percent and 4.7 percent, respectively.
Texas economic growth amounted to 8.8 percent of the entire economic growth in the United States during the quarter and represented 74 percent of the Southwest region (AZ, NM, OK, and TX). In total, the Lone Star state posted nearly $1.9 trillion in GDP.
In terms of current-dollar GDP, only California brought in more at $3.2 trillion in the third quarter.
By industry, the “durable goods manufacturing” sector had the largest growth rate in Texas at 1.17 percent.
“Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction” and “retail trade” each increased 0.47 percent while “Professional, scientific, and technical services” posted 0.45 percent growth.
“Wholesale trade” increased by 0.34 percent.
“Construction” and “information” posted 0.24 and 0.22 percent growth, respectively.
The “health care and social assistance” and the “accommodation and food services” each posted 0.18 percent growth.
The largest decrease came in the “utilities” sector with a -0.26-growth rate. “Government and government enterprises” also decreased with -0.04 growth.
Texas averaged a 4.0 percent growth rate in 2018 and is well-above that so far in 2019.
Preliminary numbers for Q4 are expected to be published in early April.
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Brad Johnson
Brad Johnson is a senior reporter for The Texan and an Ohio native who graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 2017. He is an avid sports fan who most enjoys watching his favorite teams continue their title drought throughout his cognizant lifetime. In his free time, you may find Brad quoting Monty Python productions and trying to calculate the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow.
