Texas employment growth projections have gained steam as the Lone Star State job growth has outpaced the nation so far this year, according to a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

Economists at the Dallas Fed said the number of Texas jobs grew by a 2.4 percent annualized rate in May, led by gains in the manufacturing and energy sectors. Further, goods-producing sectors have expanded jobs by 6.5 percent so far this year, far ahead of the 1.9 percent job growth in the private services industries.

That rapid year-to-date growth has resulted in an uptick in projected Texas job growth for the full year from 2.4 percent to 2.6 percent. The Dallas Fed's revised Texas Employment Forecast, released June 16, projects that 309,000 new jobs will be created through the end of 2017, with a projected December employment of about 12.4 million jobs statewide.

Read the full article from the Austin Business Journal.