Surveys

Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey

August 27, 2018

Results Table

Business Indicators Relating to Facilities and Products in Texas Current (versus previous month)
Indicator	Aug Index	Jul Index	Change	Indicator Direction*	Trend** (Months)	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Production	29.3	29.4	–0.1	Increasing	26	40.7	48.0	11.4
Capacity Utilization	25.2	25.0	+0.2	Increasing	26	35.4	54.4	10.2
New Orders	23.9	23.3	+0.6	Increasing	22	36.3	51.3	12.4
Growth Rate of Orders	19.9	17.0	+2.9	Increasing	20	29.8	60.3	9.9
Unfilled Orders	9.1	14.9	–5.8	Increasing	17	17.5	74.1	8.4
Shipments	26.0	30.8	–4.8	Increasing	21	38.4	49.1	12.4
Delivery Time	8.9	12.7	–3.8	Increasing	14	18.3	72.3	9.4
Finished Goods Inventories	13.9	–1.9	+15.8	Increasing	1	20.4	73.1	6.5
Prices Paid for Raw Materials	45.3	48.6	–3.3	Increasing	30	51.1	43.1	5.8
Prices Received for Finished Goods	15.3	22.9	–7.6	Increasing	25	21.3	72.7	6.0
Wages and Benefits	33.4	32.4	+1.0	Increasing	109	33.9	65.6	0.5
Employment	28.9	28.9	0.0	Increasing	20	34.2	60.5	5.3
Hours Worked	19.0	22.2	–3.2	Increasing	22	25.5	68.0	6.5
Capital Expenditures	25.1	26.6	–1.5	Increasing	24	30.8	63.5	5.7

General Business Conditions Current (versus previous month)
Indicator	Aug Index	Jul Index	Change	Indicator Direction*	Trend** (Months)	% Reporting Improved	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Worsened
Company Outlook	27.3	20.4	+6.9	Improving	24	31.4	64.5	4.1
General Business Activity	30.9	32.3	–1.4	Improving	22	36.2	58.5	5.3


Indicator	Aug Index	Jul Index	Change	Indicator Direction*	Trend** (Months)	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Outlook Uncertainty†	16.2	17.0	–0.8	Increasing	3	21.9	72.4	5.7

Business Indicators Relating to Facilities and Products in Texas Future (six months ahead)
Indicator	Aug Index	Jul Index	Change	Indicator Direction	Trend* (Months)	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Production	46.6	50.6	–4.0	Increasing	114	53.8	39.0	7.2
Capacity Utilization	38.2	46.4	–8.2	Increasing	114	46.7	44.8	8.5
New Orders	47.4	50.6	–3.2	Increasing	114	54.0	39.4	6.6
Growth Rate of Orders	40.4	35.1	+5.3	Increasing	114	44.6	51.2	4.2
Unfilled Orders	9.7	12.4	–2.7	Increasing	35	19.9	69.9	10.2
Shipments	49.2	49.7	–0.5	Increasing	114	53.6	42.0	4.4
Delivery Time	7.1	4.3	+2.8	Increasing	21	16.0	75.1	8.9
Finished Goods Inventories	9.9	3.8	+6.1	Increasing	10	22.8	64.4	12.9
Prices Paid for Raw Materials	43.5	46.1	–2.6	Increasing	113	46.5	50.5	3.0
Prices Received for Finished Goods	32.0	26.6	+5.4	Increasing	31	36.0	60.0	4.0
Wages and Benefits	45.5	53.2	–7.7	Increasing	171	48.3	48.8	2.8
Employment	42.2	39.9	+2.3	Increasing	69	44.6	53.0	2.4
Hours Worked	11.3	18.1	–6.8	Increasing	27	21.3	68.7	10.0
Capital Expenditures	39.9	31.9	+8.0	Increasing	105	45.6	48.8	5.7

General Business Conditions Future (six months ahead)
Indicator	Aug Index	Jul Index	Change	Indicator Direction*	Trend** (Months)	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Worsened
Company Outlook	34.3	37.2	–2.9	Improving	31	38.8	56.7	4.5
General Business Activity	34.7	36.2	–1.5	Improving	27	38.7	57.3	4.0

*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.

†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.