Surveys

Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey

March 30, 2020

Results Table

Business Indicators Relating to Facilities and Products in Texas Current (versus previous month)
Indicator	Mar Index	Feb Index	Change	Series Average	Trend*	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Production	–35.3	16.4	–51.7	10.2	1(–)	8.7	47.3	44.0
Capacity Utilization	–33.4	11.3	–44.7	7.9	1(–)	9.8	47.0	43.2
New Orders	–41.3	8.4	–49.7	6.2	1(–)	10.0	38.7	51.3
Growth Rate of Orders	–44.9	3.6	–48.5	–0.1	1(–)	10.5	34.1	55.4
Unfilled Orders	–22.4	0.5	–22.9	–3.0	1(–)	5.8	66.0	28.2
Shipments	–33.8	8.5	–42.3	8.9	1(–)	10.2	45.7	44.0
Delivery Time	–3.0	2.6	–5.6	–0.5	1(–)	14.5	68.0	17.5
Finished Goods Inventories	–6.5	–5.5	–1.0	–3.1	12(–)	21.5	50.5	28.0
Prices Paid for Raw Materials	–5.9	12.8	–18.7	24.4	1(–)	9.0	76.1	14.9
Prices Received for Finished Goods	–9.2	–0.1	–9.1	6.3	3(–)	4.6	81.6	13.8
Wages and Benefits	5.5	22.6	–17.1	18.8	128(+)	11.4	82.7	5.9
Employment	–23.0	–0.9	–22.1	6.4	2(–)	2.6	71.8	25.6
Hours Worked	–22.4	2.1	–24.5	2.6	1(–)	10.7	56.2	33.1
Capital Expenditures	–34.3	6.9	–41.2	6.8	1(–)	6.3	53.1	40.6

General Business Conditions Current (versus previous month)
Indicator	Mar Index	Feb Index	Change	Series Average	Trend**	% Reporting Improved	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Worsened
Company Outlook	–65.6	3.6	–69.2	6.8	1(–)	1.3	31.8	66.9
General Business Activity	–70.0	1.2	–71.2	2.5	1(–)	0.4	29.2	70.4


Indicator	Mar Index	Feb Index	Change	Series Average	Trend*	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Outlook Uncertainty†	62.6	11.0	+51.6	11.4	22(+)	78.5	5.6	15.9

Business Indicators Relating to Facilities and Products in Texas Future (six months ahead)
Indicator	Mar Index	Feb Index	Change	Series Average	Trend*	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Production	–18.7	35.0	–53.7	38.4	1(–)	27.7	25.9	46.4
Capacity Utilization	–15.8	33.0	–48.8	35.3	1(–)	24.3	35.6	40.1
New Orders	–20.4	34.1	–54.5	36.2	1(–)	25.3	28.9	45.7
Growth Rate of Orders	–20.7	30.0	–50.7	26.7	1(–)	24.3	30.7	45.0
Unfilled Orders	–21.9	5.4	–27.3	3.9	1(–)	10.4	57.3	32.3
Shipments	–23.6	27.3	–50.9	37.1	1(–)	22.5	31.4	46.1
Delivery Time	–8.0	8.7	–16.7	–1.8	1(–)	12.6	66.8	20.6
Finished Goods Inventories	–10.1	16.8	–26.9	–0.4	1(–)	19.2	51.5	29.3
Prices Paid for Raw Materials	–7.9	21.4	–29.3	33.5	1(–)	13.7	64.7	21.6
Prices Received for Finished Goods	–13.9	11.6	–25.5	19.3	1(–)	8.9	68.3	22.8
Wages and Benefits	0.7	39.7	–39.0	38.1	190(+)	20.8	59.1	20.1
Employment	–16.7	20.4	–37.1	22.1	1(–)	17.5	48.3	34.2
Hours Worked	–12.3	12.2	–24.5	9.3	1(–)	17.8	52.1	30.1
Capital Expenditures	–19.8	21.2	–41.0	20.0	1(–)	20.3	39.5	40.1

General Business Conditions Future (six months ahead)
Indicator	Mar Index	Feb Index	Change	Series Average	Trend**	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Worsened
Company Outlook	–37.7	24.1	–61.8	20.8	1(–)	16.6	29.1	54.3
General Business Activity	–39.5	18.0	–57.5	14.2	1(–)	17.6	25.3	57.1

*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.