DALLAS — Texas sales tax revenue rebounded 2.7% in July to $2.4 billion, state Comptroller Glenn Hegar reported.
The July increase over the same month last year comes after a 1.4% drop in June that represented the first decline in 62 months of reports. Hegar attributed that drop to slackening oil and gas production in the state.
For the July report, "stronger growth in receipts from consumer driven sectors, including retail trade, restaurants and services offset declining receipts from oil and gas-related sectors," Hegar said. "July's modest growth in sales tax revenue is in line with the biennial revenue estimate issued in January."
The July report represents sales that were recorded in June and allocated to local taxing jurisdictions in July. Some of the revenue also comes from April and May for businesses that report quarterly.
Hegar's office will distribute $760.2 million from the July totals to cities, counties, transit systems and special purpose districts. That distribution represents an increase of 7.6% compared to the same month last year.
Despite falling oil prices, production in the Eagle Ford Shale region of South Texas grew by 18,000 barrels per day or 1% in June compared to May, according to industry reports.
In a July 30 report, Hegar noted that job growth, sales tax collections and building permits all signal that the Texas economy continues to outpace the national economy.
"Over the past year, Texas added jobs in 9 of the 11 major industries, including professional and business services, trade, transportation and utilities, leisure and hospitality, education and health services, construction, government, financial activities, information, and other services," Hegar reported.
Pre-recession Texas employment peaked at 10.64 million in August 2008, a level that was surpassed in November 2011, he said. By May 2015 Texas added an additional 1.15 million jobs.
The U.S. recovered all recession-hit jobs by May 2014 and by May 2015 added an additional 3,314,000 jobs.
Texas and the nation returned to economic growth in 2010, 2011, and 2012. In calendar 2014, Texas real gross domestic product grew by 5.2%, compared with 2.39% for the U.S.
