Surveys

Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey

September 27, 2021

Results Table

Business Indicators Relating to Facilities and Products in Texas Current (versus previous month)
Indicator	Sep Index	Aug Index	Change	Series Average	Trend*	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Production	24.2	20.8	+3.4	10.7	16(+)	41.9	40.4	17.7
Capacity Utilization	24.5	21.7	+2.8	8.5	16(+)	38.5	47.6	14.0
New Orders	9.5	15.6	–6.1	6.5	16(+)	31.3	46.9	21.8
Growth Rate of Orders	2.5	10.7	–8.2	0.5	15(+)	24.3	53.9	21.8
Unfilled Orders	14.9	22.6	–7.7	–1.9	15(+)	26.3	62.3	11.4
Shipments	18.7	15.2	+3.5	9.4	16(+)	36.9	44.9	18.2
Delivery Time	21.4	19.5	+1.9	0.6	15(+)	31.2	59.0	9.8
Finished Goods Inventories	1.1	4.2	–3.1	–3.4	2(+)	14.4	72.2	13.3
Prices Paid for Raw Materials	80.4	74.9	+5.5	26.2	17(+)	82.1	16.2	1.7
Prices Received for Finished Goods	44.0	38.1	+5.9	7.2	14(+)	46.7	50.6	2.7
Wages and Benefits	42.7	43.4	–0.7	19.1	17(+)	42.9	56.9	0.2
Employment	26.3	21.9	+4.4	6.9	15(+)	35.5	55.3	9.2
Hours Worked	20.4	24.3	–3.9	3.2	15(+)	28.1	64.2	7.7
Capital Expenditures	11.0	12.4	–1.4	6.6	14(+)	21.2	68.6	10.2

General Business Conditions Current (versus previous month)
Indicator	Sep Index	Aug Index	Change	Series Average	Trend**	% Reporting Improved	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Worsened
Company Outlook	–2.8	11.5	–14.3	6.9	1(–)	17.8	61.6	20.6
General Business Activity	4.6	9.0	–4.4	2.9	14(+)	21.1	62.4	16.5

Indicator	Sep Index	Aug Index	Change	Series Average	Trend*	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Outlook Uncertainty†	23.3	21.1	+2.2	13.1	5(+)	32.2	58.9	8.9

Business Indicators Relating to Facilities and Products in Texas Future (six months ahead)
Indicator	Sep Index	Aug Index	Change	Series Average	Trend*	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Production	41.8	44.3	–2.5	38.5	17(+)	52.7	36.4	10.9
Capacity Utilization	31.9	38.1	–6.2	35.4	17(+)	44.4	43.1	12.5
New Orders	33.4	40.7	–7.3	36.2	17(+)	46.7	40.1	13.3
Growth Rate of Orders	25.9	29.0	–3.1	27.0	17(+)	38.5	48.9	12.6
Unfilled Orders	–2.9	–6.0	+3.1	3.9	2(–)	13.9	69.3	16.8
Shipments	32.9	42.0	–9.1	37.0	17(+)	49.5	34.0	16.6
Delivery Time	10.2	0.3	+9.9	–1.3	8(+)	21.0	68.2	10.8
Finished Goods Inventories	9.4	11.4	–2.0	0.3	11(+)	18.8	71.8	9.4
Prices Paid for Raw Materials	55.3	55.7	–0.4	34.1	18(+)	61.2	32.9	5.9
Prices Received for Finished Goods	44.6	39.8	+4.8	20.1	17(+)	53.0	38.6	8.4
Wages and Benefits	50.4	60.6	–10.2	38.2	17(+)	50.4	49.6	0.0
Employment	49.8	44.5	+5.3	22.7	16(+)	54.0	41.8	4.2
Hours Worked	18.7	13.9	+4.8	9.5	17(+)	26.5	65.7	7.8
Capital Expenditures	30.0	21.6	+8.4	19.9	16(+)	37.8	54.4	7.8

General Business Conditions Future (six months ahead)
Indicator	Sep Index	Aug Index	Change	Series Average	Trend**	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Worsened
Company Outlook	12.7	17.6	–4.9	20.8	16(+)	30.7	51.3	18.0
General Business Activity	11.5	15.1	–3.6	14.7	16(+)	29.2	53.1	17.7

*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.