Surveys

Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey

August 31, 2020

Results Table

Business Indicators Relating to Facilities and Products in Texas Current (versus previous month)
Indicator	Aug Index	Jul Index	Change	Series Average	Trend*	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Production	13.1	16.1	–3.0	9.8	3(+)	35.4	42.2	22.3
Capacity Utilization	10.9	14.0	–3.1	7.5	3(+)	30.9	49.1	20.0
New Orders	9.8	6.9	+2.9	5.6	3(+)	33.2	43.4	23.4
Growth Rate of Orders	11.8	1.3	+10.5	–0.6	2(+)	28.7	54.4	16.9
Unfilled Orders	7.8	7.9	–0.1	–3.1	2(+)	27.1	53.6	19.3
Shipments	23.3	17.3	+6.0	8.5	3(+)	42.0	39.4	18.7
Delivery Time	7.1	3.2	+3.9	–0.6	2(+)	19.2	68.7	12.1
Finished Goods Inventories	–17.3	–9.9	–7.4	–3.3	17(–)	11.8	59.1	29.1
Prices Paid for Raw Materials	19.4	9.7	+9.7	23.9	4(+)	28.1	63.2	8.7
Prices Received for Finished Goods	0.9	–1.5	+2.4	5.9	1(+)	13.5	73.9	12.6
Wages and Benefits	15.2	9.0	+6.2	18.4	3(+)	21.2	72.8	6.0
Employment	10.6	3.1	+7.5	6.1	2(+)	23.4	63.8	12.8
Hours Worked	10.5	5.8	+4.7	2.3	2(+)	25.1	60.3	14.6
Capital Expenditures	0.0	–3.0	+3.0	6.1	1()	14.7	70.6	14.7

General Business Conditions Current (versus previous month)
Indicator	Aug Index	Jul Index	Change	Series Average	Trend**	% Reporting Improved	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Worsened
Company Outlook	16.6	5.9	+10.7	6.2	3(+)	33.8	49.0	17.2
General Business Activity	8.0	–3.0	+11.0	1.8	1(+)	29.5	48.9	21.5


Indicator	Aug Index	Jul Index	Change	Series Average	Trend*	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Outlook Uncertainty†	8.2	20.9	–12.7	13.4	27(+)	25.5	57.3	17.3

Business Indicators Relating to Facilities and Products in Texas Future (six months ahead)
Indicator	Aug Index	Jul Index	Change	Series Average	Trend*	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Production	43.0	37.2	+5.8	38.1	4(+)	57.8	27.4	14.8
Capacity Utilization	41.0	30.7	+10.3	35.0	4(+)	53.8	33.4	12.8
New Orders	42.5	38.6	+3.9	35.9	4(+)	54.4	33.7	11.9
Growth Rate of Orders	39.2	30.4	+8.8	26.5	4(+)	46.0	47.3	6.8
Unfilled Orders	7.8	2.7	+5.1	3.8	3(+)	21.2	65.4	13.4
Shipments	36.0	33.2	+2.8	36.7	4(+)	50.0	36.0	14.0
Delivery Time	7.1	4.8	+2.3	–1.7	3(+)	15.7	75.7	8.6
Finished Goods Inventories	1.0	1.0	0.0	–0.5	3(+)	18.3	64.4	17.3
Prices Paid for Raw Materials	22.1	22.3	–0.2	33.1	5(+)	25.0	72.1	2.9
Prices Received for Finished Goods	7.8	10.9	–3.1	18.9	4(+)	17.5	72.8	9.7
Wages and Benefits	28.1	22.5	+5.6	37.5	4(+)	31.0	66.1	2.9
Employment	27.6	11.1	+16.5	21.7	3(+)	34.9	57.8	7.3
Hours Worked	14.9	9.9	+5.0	9.2	4(+)	27.4	60.1	12.5
Capital Expenditures	13.0	11.6	+1.4	19.5	3(+)	26.4	60.2	13.4

General Business Conditions Future (six months ahead)
Indicator	Aug Index	Jul Index	Change	Series Average	Trend**	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Worsened
Company Outlook	27.8	18.7	+9.1	20.2	3(+)	41.5	44.8	13.7
General Business Activity	20.4	10.6	+9.8	13.8	3(+)	37.4	45.5	17.0

*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.