Surveys

Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey

Results Table

April 24, 2017

Click on links in the table for greater details. Historical data are available from June 2004 to the most current release month.

Business Indicators Relating to Facilities and Products in Texas Current (versus previous month)
Indicator	Apr Index	Mar Index	Change	Indicator Direction*	Trend** (Months)	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Production	15.4	18.6	–3.2	Increasing	10	32.7	50.0	17.3
Capacity Utilization	11.5	13.2	–1.7	Increasing	10	28.8	53.9	17.3
New Orders	11.5	9.5	+2.0	Increasing	6	27.5	56.5	16.0
Growth Rate of Orders	5.1	3.2	+1.9	Increasing	4	20.5	64.1	15.4
Unfilled Orders	0.1	0.1	0.0	Increasing	4	13.0	74.1	12.9
Shipments	9.5	6.5	+3.0	Increasing	5	27.1	55.3	17.6
Delivery Time	1.4	10.1	–8.7	Increasing	3	10.9	79.6	9.5
Materials Inventories	2.2	0.0	+2.2	Increasing	1	17.8	66.6	15.6
Finished Goods Inventories	1.0	–1.8	+2.8	Increasing	1	15.0	71.0	14.0
Prices Paid for Raw Materials	20.8	25.2	–4.4	Increasing	14	24.8	71.2	4.0
Prices Received for Finished Goods	12.0	7.5	+4.5	Increasing	9	17.6	76.8	5.6
Wages and Benefits	18.8	19.7	–0.9	Increasing	89	20.8	77.2	2.0
Employment	8.5	8.4	+0.1	Increasing	4	17.5	73.5	9.0
Hours Worked	5.9	8.7	–2.8	Increasing	6	20.1	65.7	14.2
Capital Expenditures	6.7	12.7	–6.0	Increasing	8	16.4	73.9	9.7

General Business Conditions Current (versus previous month)
Indicator	Index	Mar Index	Change	Indicator Direction*	Trend** (Months)	% Reporting Improved	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Worsened
Company Outlook	15.1	17.9	–2.8	Improving	8	25.3	64.5	10.2
General Business Activity	16.8	16.9	–0.1	Improving	7	30.4	56.0	13.6

Business Indicators Relating to Facilities and Products in Texas Future (six months ahead)
Indicator	Apr Index	Mar Index	Change	Indicator Direction*	Trend** (Months)	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Production	39.6	44.8	–5.2	Increasing	98	49.3	40.9	9.7
Capacity Utilization	38.0	37.3	+0.7	Increasing	98	47.3	43.5	9.3
New Orders	36.1	45.1	–9.0	Increasing	98	43.5	49.0	7.4
Growth Rate of Orders	30.9	38.3	–7.4	Increasing	98	39.4	52.1	8.5
Unfilled Orders	8.8	7.3	+1.5	Increasing	19	19.3	70.2	10.5
Shipments	41.5	45.7	–4.2	Increasing	98	50.5	40.5	9.0
Delivery Time	7.8	4.9	+2.9	Increasing	5	13.8	80.2	6.0
Materials Inventories	8.2	4.4	+3.8	Increasing	5	16.1	76.0	7.9
Finished Goods Inventories	4.9	5.5	–0.6	Increasing	10	13.7	77.5	8.8
Prices Paid for Raw Materials	28.4	42.5	–14.1	Increasing	97	34.3	59.8	5.9
Prices Received for Finished Goods	26.0	25.5	+0.5	Increasing	15	29.0	68.0	3.0
Wages and Benefits	45.6	45.0	+0.6	Increasing	155	45.9	53.8	0.3
Employment	32.7	28.4	+4.3	Increasing	53	38.9	54.9	6.2
Hours Worked	9.9	9.4	+0.5	Increasing	11	18.0	73.9	8.1
Capital Expenditures	26.0	23.4	+2.6	Increasing	89	31.0	64.0	5.0

General Business Conditions Future (six months ahead)
Indicator	Index	Mar Index	Change	Indicator Direction*	Trend** (Months)	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Worsened
Company Outlook	26.2	39.1	–12.9	Improving	15	33.7	58.8	7.5
General Business Activity	27.1	36.3	–9.2	Improving	11	33.1	60.9	6.0

*Indicator direction refers to this month's index. If index is positive (negative), indicator is increasing (decreasing) or improving (worsening). If zero, indicator is unchanged.

**Number of months moving in current direction.

Data have been seasonally adjusted as necessary.

Questions regarding the Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey can be addressed to Emily Kerr at emily.kerr@dal.frb.org.