Surveys

Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey

April 26, 2021

Results Table

Business Indicators Relating to Facilities and Products in Texas Current (versus previous month)
Indicator	Apr Index	Mar Index	Change	Series Average	Trend*	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Production	34.0	48.0	–14.0	10.3	11(+)	49.1	35.8	15.1
Capacity Utilization	34.6	46.1	–11.5	8.1	11(+)	47.9	38.8	13.3
New Orders	38.5	30.5	+8.0	6.2	11(+)	49.9	38.8	11.4
Growth Rate of Orders	32.3	22.7	+9.6	0.1	10(+)	41.8	48.8	9.5
Unfilled Orders	23.1	24.5	–1.4	–2.5	10(+)	31.7	59.7	8.6
Shipments	32.6	33.1	–0.5	9.1	11(+)	42.9	46.8	10.3
Delivery Time	24.0	31.2	–7.2	0.0	10(+)	37.4	49.2	13.4
Finished Goods Inventories	–5.7	–2.7	–3.0	–3.4	25(–)	16.0	62.3	21.7
Prices Paid for Raw Materials	71.4	66.0	+5.4	24.9	12(+)	74.1	23.2	2.7
Prices Received for Finished Goods	39.1	32.2	+6.9	6.4	9(+)	41.3	56.5	2.2
Wages and Benefits	37.1	28.0	+9.1	18.5	12(+)	37.8	61.5	0.7
Employment	31.3	18.8	+12.5	6.5	10(+)	34.6	62.1	3.3
Hours Worked	23.7	23.4	+0.3	2.7	10(+)	29.1	65.5	5.4
Capital Expenditures	19.8	24.3	–4.5	6.4	9(+)	24.8	70.2	5.0

General Business Conditions Current (versus previous month)
Indicator	Apr Index	Mar Index	Change	Series Average	Trend**	% Reporting Improved	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Worsened
Company Outlook	29.1	25.8	+3.3	6.7	11(+)	39.2	50.7	10.1
General Business Activity	37.3	28.9	+8.4	2.5	9(+)	45.9	45.5	8.6

Indicator	Apr Index	Mar Index	Change	Series Average	Trend*	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Outlook Uncertainty†	0.0	5.5	–5.5	12.5	1()	18.1	63.8	18.1

Business Indicators Relating to Facilities and Products in Texas Future (six months ahead)
Indicator	Apr Index	Mar Index	Change	Series Average	Trend*	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Production	47.2	38.3	+8.9	38.3	12(+)	52.2	42.8	5.0
Capacity Utilization	45.0	35.8	+9.2	35.2	12(+)	49.6	45.7	4.6
New Orders	42.6	44.6	–2.0	36.1	12(+)	47.1	48.4	4.5
Growth Rate of Orders	43.2	34.0	+9.2	26.8	12(+)	47.1	48.9	3.9
Unfilled Orders	10.2	7.4	+2.8	4.0	11(+)	22.0	66.1	11.8
Shipments	44.4	41.9	+2.5	36.9	12(+)	49.9	44.6	5.5
Delivery Time	4.0	3.7	+0.3	–1.5	3(+)	17.7	68.6	13.7
Finished Goods Inventories	24.0	11.2	+12.8	–0.1	6(+)	27.1	69.8	3.1
Prices Paid for Raw Materials	54.1	55.0	–0.9	33.6	13(+)	60.4	33.3	6.3
Prices Received for Finished Goods	40.2	43.9	–3.7	19.5	12(+)	45.4	49.5	5.2
Wages and Benefits	49.9	42.4	+7.5	37.8	12(+)	49.9	50.1	0.0
Employment	48.2	38.4	+9.8	22.1	11(+)	51.0	46.2	2.8
Hours Worked	15.9	5.4	+10.5	9.3	12(+)	17.3	81.3	1.4
Capital Expenditures	28.4	25.7	+2.7	19.7	11(+)	32.1	64.2	3.7

General Business Conditions Future (six months ahead)
Indicator	Apr Index	Mar Index	Change	Series Average	Trend**	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Worsened
Company Outlook	36.6	26.2	+10.4	20.6	11(+)	42.5	51.6	5.9
General Business Activity	36.6	33.7	+2.9	14.4	11(+)	42.5	51.6	5.9

*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.