Surveys

Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey

February 24, 2020

Results Table

Business Indicators Relating to Facilities and Products in Texas Current (versus previous month)
Indicator	Feb Index	Jan Index	Change	Series Average	Trend*	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Production	16.4	10.5	+5.9	10.5	3(+)	36.4	43.6	20.0
Capacity Utilization	11.3	11.5	–0.2	8.2	3(+)	31.1	49.1	19.8
New Orders	8.4	17.6	–9.2	6.5	3(+)	32.3	43.7	23.9
Growth Rate of Orders	3.6	6.1	–2.5	0.1	2(+)	22.7	58.2	19.1
Unfilled Orders	0.5	–3.6	+4.1	–2.9	1(+)	14.0	72.5	13.5
Shipments	8.5	8.6	–0.1	9.2	3(+)	30.0	48.4	21.5
Delivery Time	2.6	–3.0	+5.6	–0.5	1(+)	14.1	74.4	11.5
Finished Goods Inventories	–5.5	–3.5	–2.0	–3.1	11(–)	12.7	69.1	18.2
Prices Paid for Raw Materials	12.8	9.5	+3.3	24.6	47(+)	23.9	65.0	11.1
Prices Received for Finished Goods	–0.1	–1.9	+1.8	6.4	2(–)	11.8	76.3	11.9
Wages and Benefits	22.6	16.3	+6.3	18.8	127(+)	25.6	71.4	3.0
Employment	–0.9	1.9	–2.8	6.5	1(–)	14.8	69.5	15.7
Hours Worked	2.1	–0.2	+2.3	2.8	1(+)	19.8	62.5	17.7
Capital Expenditures	6.9	9.1	–2.2	7.0	42(+)	20.9	65.1	14.0

General Business Conditions Current (versus previous month)
Indicator	Feb Index	Jan Index	Change	Series Average	Trend**	% Reporting Improved	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Worsened
Company Outlook	3.6	1.9	+1.7	7.2	3(+)	20.7	62.2	17.1
General Business Activity	1.2	–0.2	+1.4	2.9	1(+)	18.8	63.6	17.6


Indicator	Feb Index	Jan Index	Change	Series Average	Trend*	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Outlook Uncertainty†	11.0	2.7	+8.3	9.4	21(+)	22.9	65.1	11.9

Business Indicators Relating to Facilities and Products in Texas Future (six months ahead)
Indicator	Feb Index	Jan Index	Change	Series Average	Trend*	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Production	35.0	38.9	–3.9	38.7	132(+)	45.0	45.0	10.0
Capacity Utilization	33.0	37.4	–4.4	35.5	132(+)	42.9	47.1	9.9
New Orders	34.1	40.1	–6.0	36.5	132(+)	43.3	47.4	9.2
Growth Rate of Orders	30.0	27.0	+3.0	26.9	132(+)	37.8	54.4	7.8
Unfilled Orders	5.4	8.3	–2.9	4.0	2(+)	13.2	79.0	7.8
Shipments	27.3	38.3	–11.0	37.4	132(+)	39.9	47.5	12.6
Delivery Time	8.7	5.8	+2.9	–1.8	5(+)	16.0	76.7	7.3
Finished Goods Inventories	16.8	0.9	+15.9	–0.4	3(+)	27.7	61.4	10.9
Prices Paid for Raw Materials	21.4	20.2	+1.2	33.7	131(+)	27.2	67.0	5.8
Prices Received for Finished Goods	11.6	10.0	+1.6	19.5	49(+)	19.4	72.8	7.8
Wages and Benefits	39.7	42.4	–2.7	38.3	189(+)	41.5	56.7	1.8
Employment	20.4	25.3	–4.9	22.3	87(+)	33.1	54.2	12.7
Hours Worked	12.2	14.2	–2.0	9.4	45(+)	21.0	70.2	8.8
Capital Expenditures	21.2	28.3	–7.1	20.2	123(+)	30.2	60.8	9.0

General Business Conditions Future (six months ahead)
Indicator	Feb Index	Jan Index	Change	Series Average	Trend**	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Worsened
Company Outlook	24.1	15.6	+8.5	21.1	49(+)	36.3	51.5	12.2
General Business Activity	18.0	7.6	+10.4	14.5	5(+)	32.1	53.8	14.1

*Shown is the number of consecutive months of expansion or contraction in the underlying indicator. Expansion is indicated by a positive index reading and denoted by a (+) in the table. Contraction is indicated by a negative index reading and denoted by a (–) in the table.

**Shown is the number of consecutive months of improvement or worsening in the underlying indicator. Improvement is indicated by a positive index reading and denoted by a (+) in the table. Worsening is indicated by a negative index reading and denoted by a (–) in the table.

†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.