Skip to main content
Surveys

Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey

March 25, 2019

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)
IndicatorMar IndexFeb IndexChangeIndicator Direction*Trend** (Months)% Reporting Increase% Reporting
No Change
% Reporting Decrease

Production

11.5

10.1

+1.4

Increasing

33

28.8

53.8

17.3

Capacity Utilization

10.9

7.1

+3.8

Increasing

33

26.9

57.1

16.0

New Orders

2.4

6.9

–4.5

Increasing

29

20.7

61.0

18.3

Growth Rate of Orders

–1.9

3.4

–5.3

Decreasing

1

17.3

63.5

19.2

Unfilled Orders

0.5

0.7

–0.2

Increasing

3

14.7

71.1

14.2

Shipments

5.8

10.7

–4.9

Increasing

28

24.5

56.8

18.7

Delivery Time

4.1

–1.3

+5.4

Increasing

1

14.3

75.5

10.2

Finished Goods Inventories

1.7

–2.5

+4.2

Increasing

1

17.5

66.7

15.8

Prices Paid for Raw Materials

20.4

21.8

–1.4

Increasing

37

27.1

66.2

6.7

Prices Received for Finished Goods

6.9

5.2

+1.7

Increasing

32

13.6

79.7

6.7

Wages and Benefits

30.1

28.9

+1.2

Increasing

116

32.2

65.7

2.1

Employment

13.1

12.6

+0.5

Increasing

27

22.2

68.7

9.1

Hours Worked

4.6

1.8

+2.8

Increasing

29

18.8

67.0

14.2

Capital Expenditures

12.1

18.7

–6.6

Increasing

31

16.6

78.9

4.5

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

Company Outlook

6.0

14.2

–8.2

Improving

3

19.6

66.8

13.6

General Business Activity

8.3

13.1

–4.8

Improving

3

21.5

65.3

13.2

IndicatorMar IndexFeb IndexChangeIndicator Direction*Trend** (Months)% Reporting Increase% Reporting
No Change
% Reporting Decrease

Outlook Uncertainty†

3.4

4.1

–0.7

Increasing

10

21.0

61.3

17.6

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

Production

51.3

44.3

+7.0

Increasing

121

57.6

36.1

6.3

Capacity Utilization

48.2

40.1

+8.1

Increasing

121

53.4

41.4

5.2

New Orders

43.5

44.9

–1.4

Increasing

121

50.2

43.1

6.7

Growth Rate of Orders

32.6

30.8

+1.8

Increasing

121

41.0

50.6

8.4

Unfilled Orders

10.7

10.8

–0.1

Increasing

42

19.2

72.3

8.5

Shipments

45.4

44.7

+0.7

Increasing

121

53.0

39.4

7.6

Delivery Time

9.6

8.7

+0.9

Increasing

28

19.0

71.6

9.4

Finished Goods Inventories

9.1

5.4

+3.7

Increasing

17

19.1

70.9

10.0

Prices Paid for Raw Materials

28.2

23.7

+4.5

Increasing

120

35.5

57.3

7.3

Prices Received for Finished Goods

20.0

25.9

–5.9

Increasing

38

31.8

56.4

11.8

Wages and Benefits

54.4

47.0

+7.4

Increasing

178

54.9

44.6

0.5

Employment

37.9

33.2

+4.7

Increasing

76

43.9

50.1

6.0

Hours Worked

14.4

11.4

+3.0

Increasing

34

24.4

65.6

10.0

Capital Expenditures

36.2

24.0

+12.2

Increasing

112

39.8

56.6

3.6

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

Company Outlook

17.5

26.7

–9.2

Improving

38

30.8

55.9

13.3

General Business Activity

19.7

17.7

+2.0

Improving

34

32.8

54.1

13.1

*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.

Sign up for our email alert to be automatically notified as soon as the latest Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey is released on the web.