Surveys

Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey

May 29, 2018

Results Table

Business Indicators Relating to Facilities and Products in Texas Current (versus previous month)
Indicator	May Index	Apr Index	Change	Indicator Direction*	Trend** (Months)	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Production	35.2	25.3	+9.9	Increasing	23	45.0	45.2	9.8
Capacity Utilization	32.2	18.7	+13.5	Increasing	23	42.5	47.2	10.3
New Orders	27.7	27.9	–0.2	Increasing	19	40.1	47.5	12.4
Growth Rate of Orders	26.5	18.9	+7.6	Increasing	17	36.0	54.5	9.5
Unfilled Orders	4.1	7.2	–3.1	Increasing	14	15.6	72.9	11.5
Shipments	39.5	19.3	+20.2	Increasing	18	50.4	38.7	10.9
Delivery Time	10.2	14.5	–4.3	Increasing	11	16.6	77.0	6.4
Finished Goods Inventories	–6.6	1.7	–8.3	Decreasing	1	14.2	65.1	20.8
Prices Paid for Raw Materials	44.0	46.3	–2.3	Increasing	27	49.5	45.0	5.5
Prices Received for Finished Goods	20.5	17.0	+3.5	Increasing	22	25.5	69.5	5.0
Wages and Benefits	24.3	29.3	–5.0	Increasing	106	25.3	73.7	1.0
Employment	23.4	17.8	+5.6	Increasing	17	28.5	66.4	5.1
Hours Worked	23.2	14.3	+8.9	Increasing	19	28.4	66.4	5.2
Capital Expenditures	21.7	23.9	–2.2	Increasing	21	26.6	68.5	4.9

General Business Conditions Current (versus previous month)
Indicator	May Index	Apr Index	Change	Indicator Direction*	Trend** (Months)	% Reporting Improved	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Worsened
Company Outlook	28.0	23.6	+4.4	Improving	21	35.1	57.8	7.1
General Business Activity	26.8	21.8	+5.0	Improving	19	32.5	61.8	5.7


Indicator	May Index	Apr Index	Change	Indicator Direction*	Trend** (Months)	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Outlook Uncertainty†	–2.9	12.4	–15.3	Decreasing	1	15.4	66.3	18.3

Business Indicators Relating to Facilities and Products in Texas Future (six months ahead)
Indicator	May Index	Apr Index	Change	Indicator Direction	Trend* (Months)	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Production	58.0	52.3	+5.7	Increasing	111	63.2	31.6	5.2
Capacity Utilization	51.0	49.0	+2.0	Increasing	111	56.7	37.6	5.7
New Orders	48.5	47.6	+0.9	Increasing	111	53.1	42.3	4.6
Growth Rate of Orders	37.7	37.8	–0.1	Increasing	111	41.6	54.5	3.9
Unfilled Orders	13.8	15.5	–1.7	Increasing	32	19.4	75.0	5.6
Shipments	49.2	49.2	0.0	Increasing	111	56.5	36.2	7.3
Delivery Time	13.4	11.4	+2.0	Increasing	18	18.5	76.4	5.1
Finished Goods Inventories	11.9	11.1	+0.8	Increasing	7	20.8	70.3	8.9
Prices Paid for Raw Materials	51.9	49.1	+2.8	Increasing	110	53.9	44.1	2.0
Prices Received for Finished Goods	27.0	33.3	–6.3	Increasing	28	30.0	67.0	3.0
Wages and Benefits	50.6	50.1	+0.5	Increasing	168	51.0	48.6	0.4
Employment	37.6	35.4	+2.2	Increasing	66	44.4	48.8	6.8
Hours Worked	13.9	14.4	–0.5	Increasing	24	18.4	77.1	4.5
Capital Expenditures	32.2	31.0	+1.2	Increasing	102	36.2	59.8	4.0

General Business Conditions Future (six months ahead)
Indicator	May Index	Apr Index	Change	Indicator Direction*	Trend** (Months)	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Worsened
Company Outlook	35.2	37.1	–1.9	Improving	28	41.7	51.8	6.5
General Business Activity	30.0	31.9	–1.9	Improving	24	36.4	57.2	6.4

*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.