Surveys

Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey

March 29, 2021

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	48.0	19.9	+28.1	10.2	10(+)	60.9	26.2	12.9
Capacity Utilization	46.1	16.5	+29.6	7.9	10(+)	57.7	30.7	11.6
New Orders	30.5	13.0	+17.5	6.1	10(+)	46.3	38.0	15.8
Growth Rate of Orders	22.7	11.6	+11.1	–0.1	9(+)	35.2	52.3	12.5
Unfilled Orders	24.5	12.4	+12.1	–2.6	9(+)	39.5	45.6	15.0
Shipments	33.1	16.1	+17.0	9.0	10(+)	47.6	38.0	14.5
Delivery Time	31.2	9.5	+21.7	–0.1	9(+)	38.7	53.8	7.5
Finished Goods Inventories	–2.7	–12.8	+10.1	–3.4	24(–)	18.2	60.9	20.9
Prices Paid for Raw Materials	66.0	57.4	+8.6	24.7	11(+)	69.3	27.4	3.3
Prices Received for Finished Goods	32.2	23.0	+9.2	6.2	8(+)	35.8	60.6	3.6
Wages and Benefits	28.0	16.1	+11.9	18.4	11(+)	28.7	70.6	0.7
Employment	18.8	12.7	+6.1	6.4	9(+)	28.8	61.2	10.0
Hours Worked	23.4	11.3	+12.1	2.6	9(+)	33.1	57.2	9.7
Capital Expenditures	24.3	13.7	+10.6	6.3	8(+)	30.5	63.3	6.2

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	25.8	10.7	+15.1	6.6	10(+)	36.3	53.2	10.5
General Business Activity	28.9	17.2	+11.7	2.3	8(+)	42.2	44.5	13.3

Indicator	Mar Index	Feb Index	Change	Series Average	Trend*	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Outlook Uncertainty†	5.5	8.5	–3.0	12.8	34(+)	23.1	59.3	17.6

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	38.3	40.2	–1.9	38.3	11(+)	49.9	38.5	11.6
Capacity Utilization	35.8	37.1	–1.3	35.1	11(+)	47.0	41.7	11.2
New Orders	44.6	32.3	+12.3	36.0	11(+)	53.2	38.2	8.6
Growth Rate of Orders	34.0	25.8	+8.2	26.7	11(+)	42.9	48.2	8.9
Unfilled Orders	7.4	4.5	+2.9	3.9	10(+)	23.2	61.0	15.8
Shipments	41.9	36.0	+5.9	36.8	11(+)	54.3	33.3	12.4
Delivery Time	3.7	5.9	–2.2	–1.5	2(+)	19.3	65.1	15.6
Finished Goods Inventories	11.2	11.5	–0.3	–0.2	5(+)	26.5	58.2	15.3
Prices Paid for Raw Materials	55.0	52.9	+2.1	33.5	12(+)	63.0	29.0	8.0
Prices Received for Finished Goods	43.9	44.9	–1.0	19.4	11(+)	49.0	45.9	5.1
Wages and Benefits	42.4	52.1	–9.7	37.7	11(+)	44.9	52.6	2.5
Employment	38.4	30.8	+7.6	22.0	10(+)	46.2	46.1	7.8
Hours Worked	5.4	11.0	–5.6	9.3	11(+)	17.9	69.6	12.5
Capital Expenditures	25.7	22.8	+2.9	19.6	10(+)	34.9	55.9	9.2

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	26.2	32.3	–6.1	20.5	10(+)	35.8	54.6	9.6
General Business Activity	33.7	33.9	–0.2	14.3	10(+)	41.3	51.1	7.6

*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.