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Surveys

Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey

April 30, 2018

Results Table

Report


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)
IndicatorApr IndexMar IndexChangeIndicator Direction*Trend** (Months)% Reporting Increase% Reporting
No Change
% Reporting Decrease

Production

25.3

14.4

+10.9

Increasing

22

38.0

49.3

12.7

Capacity Utilization

18.7

11.1

+7.6

Increasing

22

32.3

54.1

13.6

New Orders

27.9

10.3

+17.6

Increasing

18

40.1

47.7

12.2

Growth Rate of Orders

18.9

5.3

+13.6

Increasing

16

33.1

52.7

14.2

Unfilled Orders

7.2

6.7

+0.5

Increasing

13

19.3

68.6

12.1

Shipments

19.3

10.3

+9.0

Increasing

17

35.2

48.9

15.9

Delivery Time

14.5

2.6

+11.9

Increasing

10

20.2

74.1

5.7

Finished Goods Inventories

1.7

1.8

–0.1

Increasing

3

15.0

71.7

13.3

Prices Paid for Raw Materials

46.3

43.0

+3.3

Increasing

26

49.5

47.3

3.2

Prices Received for Finished Goods

17.0

19.2

–2.2

Increasing

21

22.4

72.2

5.4

Wages and Benefits

29.3

24.1

+5.2

Increasing

105

30.3

68.7

1.0

Employment

17.8

11.7

+6.1

Increasing

16

23.9

70.0

6.1

Hours Worked

14.3

10.2

+4.1

Increasing

18

22.4

69.5

8.1

Capital Expenditures

23.9

18.2

+5.7

Increasing

20

29.9

64.1

6.0

General Business Conditions
Current (versus previous month)
IndicatorApr IndexMar IndexChangeIndicator Direction*Trend** (Months)% Reporting Improved% Reporting
No Change
% Reporting Worsened

Company Outlook

23.6

19.8

+3.8

Improving

20

32.8

58.0

9.2

General Business Activity

21.8

22.8

–1.0

Improving

18

31.8

58.2

10.0

IndicatorApr IndexMar IndexChangeIndicator Direction*Trend** (Months)% Reporting Increase% Reporting
No Change
% Reporting Decrease

Outlook Uncertainty†

12.4

2.8

+9.6

Increasing

2

21.2

69.9

8.8

Business Indicators Relating to Facilities and Products in Texas
Future (six months ahead)
IndicatorApr IndexMar IndexChangeIndicator DirectionTrend* (Months)% Reporting Increase% Reporting
No Change
% Reporting Decrease

Production

52.3

46.0

+6.3

Increasing

110

57.8

36.7

5.5

Capacity Utilization

49.0

47.1

+1.9

Increasing

110

54.3

40.4

5.3

New Orders

47.6

44.5

+3.1

Increasing

110

52.6

42.4

5.0

Growth Rate of Orders

37.8

33.6

+4.2

Increasing

110

43.8

50.2

6.0

Unfilled Orders

15.5

17.6

–2.1

Increasing

31

22.5

70.5

7.0

Shipments

49.2

48.3

+0.9

Increasing

110

54.9

39.4

5.7

Delivery Time

11.4

6.9

+4.5

Increasing

17

19.2

73.0

7.8

Finished Goods Inventories

11.1

5.7

+5.4

Increasing

6

22.2

66.7

11.1

Prices Paid for Raw Materials

49.1

50.5

–1.4

Increasing

109

53.7

41.7

4.6

Prices Received for Finished Goods

33.3

28.7

+4.6

Increasing

27

36.1

61.1

2.8

Wages and Benefits

50.1

48.5

+1.6

Increasing

167

50.2

49.7

0.1

Employment

35.4

34.7

+0.7

Increasing

65

41.3

52.8

5.9

Hours Worked

14.4

19.4

–5.0

Increasing

23

22.5

69.4

8.1

Capital Expenditures

31.0

37.8

–6.8

Increasing

101

39.1

52.8

8.1

General Business Conditions
Future (six months ahead)
IndicatorApr IndexMar IndexChangeIndicator Direction*Trend** (Months)% Reporting Increase% Reporting
No Change
% Reporting Worsened

Company Outlook

37.1

29.7

+7.4

Improving

27

42.6

51.9

5.5

General Business Activity

31.9

31.6

+0.3

Improving

23

37.8

56.3

5.9

*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.

†Added to survey in January 2018.

Data have been seasonally adjusted as necessary, with the exception of the outlook uncertainty index which does not yet have a sufficiently long time series to test for seasonality.

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

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