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Fed economist: Inflation to remain 'sticky' in 2026 By Ken Fountain KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
Economic growth in Texas and in the greater Houston region will likely be tepid in while inflation will continue to be “sticky” in 2026, an economist told a Fort Bend County audience last week. Jesse Thompson, a senior business economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas’s Houston branch, spoke at the Ford Bend County Chamber of Commerce in Sugar Land on December 18. “The forecast is for trend or neartrend GDP growth through 2026, 1.8 to 2 percent,” Thompson told an audience of business leaders and elected officials. “We’re a little bit below that.” “Somewhere around trend is where we are, and it looks like we’re going to stay (in 2026),” he said. Thompson said that inflation in 2026, which the Fed had earlier projected would ease to its target goal of 2 percent in 2025, is projected to remain elevated in 2026. “It’s a little bit sticker than we projected earlier, for a variety of reasons,” he said, with the inflation rate projected to remain in the 2.5 to 3% range. Among the reasons for the expected continued inflation are policies instituted by the Trump Administration, particularly its tariff policy. “Federal policy is mixed, for a variety of reasons, and uncertain,” he said. Thompson said that is reflected when the Fed polls business leaders across the country, including in Texas. “We have many businesses that say I would really like some more clarity, some certainty, and stability of policy. It’s hard for many businesses to find that happy medium where they’re splitting the upside/ downside risk between policy choices,” he said. The employment and wage growth projections for Texas are decidedly mixed, but Thompson cautioned that the data from recent
SEE INFLATION PAGE 4
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55-hour race in Missouri City honors cancer patient's legacy By Juhi Varma CONTRIBUTING WRITER
A 55-hour race in Missouri City will honor Dickinson girl Chelsey Campbell and a marathon surgery she underwent during her cancer treatment in 2006. The race is hosted by Snowdrop Foundation, which provides scholarships for childhood cancer survivors while raising awareness and funding for research. It will take place from Tuesday, December 30, (beginning at 7 a.m.) through
Thursday, January 1 (ending at 2 p.m.) at Buffalo Run Park at Missouri City’s 1122 Buffalo Run Blvd. Chelsey Campbell died in December 2006, and the foundation was formed in her honor. “The Snowdrop Foundation was founded in June 2006, four months after the recordsetting surgery took place at Texas Children’s Hospital here in Houston,” said Jered Mansell, one of the race directors. “Chelsey passed away, and it has been the mission of the Snowdrop Foundation and the Snowdrop Ultra55 Race
and Relay to share her legacy of positivity and joy with the world.” A 55-hour race may sound daunting, but the event is very popular, with registration filling quickly each year, Mansell said. Registration for this year’s race is already closed, though the public is encouraged to attend the park to cheer on runners and support the cause. “Participation in the event has always been great,” said Mansell. “We are looking at
SEE CANCER PAGE 4
Chelsey Campbell, a Dickinson girl whose marathon cancer surgery is the inspiration for the Snowdrop Foundation’s 13th Annual Ultra 55 Race and Walk in Missouri City’s Buffalo Run Park, is pictured in this undated photo. Chelsey died in 2006. Photo via Snowdrop Foundation Facebook page
FORT BEND ISD BEGINS REZONING PROCESS By Ken Fountain
KFOUNTAIN@FORTBENDSTAR.COM
As Fort Bend ISD deals with a combination of factors including declining enrollment and aging facilities, the board last week got into the emotionally fraught work of rezoning its school boundaries at its December 15 meeting. The meeting, following months of meetings by the district’s School Boundaries Advisory Committee, was the board’s first official foray into the rezoning process, as administrators and hired experts laid out the rationale for the proposals that lay ahead and offered draft scenarios for the board and the public. Adjusted scenarios based on public feedback will be presented at the board’s January 12 meeting, followed by a board workshop in February to discuss final recommendations, with a final vote expected in March, although that timeline could be changed, administrators said. In this round of rezoning the district is focusing on the district’s elementary schools, with the exception of the new Amy
SEE REZONING PAGE 2
Fort Bend ISD’s Austin Parkway Elementary in Sugar Land is one of seven elementary schools being considered for closure or consolidation by the district. A final vote on a rezoning plan is expected in March. Photo by Ken Fountain
GHP: Fort Bend stands out as region’s most diverse county Staff Reports Editor’s note: In its “Economy at a Glance” report for December, the Greater Houston Partnership – the regional chamber of commerce – uses new Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) data to spotlight the economic and demographic differences across metropolitan Houston’s 10 counties. The main body of the report is presented here by permission. In October, the Partnership explored how the region’s demographic and economic profile has evolved over the past decade, drawing on newly released American Community Survey (ACS) data for 2024 from the U.S. Census Bureau. In November, the Partnership used the ACS
data to compare Houston with the nation’s 20 largest metro areas, to see how the region stacks up. In this issue of Glance, the Partnership turns its focus inward to examine the economic and demographic differences among the 10 counties that make up the Houston metropolitan region. Most of the analysis that follows draws on 2024 1-year ACS estimates, but for the three smallest counties (Austin, Chambers, and San Jacinto) where 1-year data are not available – we rely on the most recent 5-year estimates from ’23 instead. Race and Ethnicity Although Houston is one of the nation’s most racially and ethnically diverse metros, populations are far from evenly distributed across its
counties. Harris and Liberty counties each have large Hispanic pluralities, with Hispanic residents accounting for just under half of the population in both. Several counties in the region, including Galveston, Montgomery, Austin, Chambers, and San Jacinto, remain majority nonHispanic White. Fort Bend and Waller counties have the region’s highest shares of Black residents, and Fort Bend stands out further with by far the largest share of Asian residents in the metro. One way to measure diversity between counties is to calculate a Simpson Diversity Index which gives the probability that two randomly selected residents will belong to different racial/ethnic groups. The table above reports the index for each of
metro Houston’s counties. Fort Bend stands out as the region’s most diverse county, as well as one of the most diverse in the nation, with relatively even representation across major racial/ ethnic groups. Brazoria ranks second, edging out Harris County, with comparatively larger shares of non-Hispanic White, Asian, and residents belonging to other racial/ ethnic groups. These two suburban counties underscore a broader pattern: Much of the region’s growth and diversification is now occurring outside the central core, as suburban communities become increasingly multiethnic – shaped by domestic migration, immigrant settlement, and second-generation households.
Foreign-Born Population More than one-in-four Houstonians (25.4%) were born outside the United States – far higher than the national rate of one-in-seven (14.8%). Fort Bend and Harris Counties together are home to 86.7% of the region’s foreign-born residents. While Harris County has the largest foreign-born population in absolute terms, Fort Bend leads on concentration, with nearly one-in-three residents born abroad. And while Latin America is the largest region of origin in the other nine counties, Fort Bend stands out, with a majority (50.7%) of its foreign-born residents coming from Asia. Across metro Houston’s 10 counties, a majority have foreign-born shares above the national average, reflecting
how immigrants are integral to the region’s urban core while becoming increasingly central to its fast-growing suburbs. Languages Spoken With such a large share of Houston’s population born outside the U.S. its no surprise that much of the population speaks a language other than English at home. In Harris County, that share is nearly twice the national average, while in Fort Bend, Liberty, and Waller, more than onein-three residents speak a language other than English. Approximately 145 languages are spoken across the metro area. After English, Spanish was by far the most
SEE GHP PAGE 2
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