Surveys

Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey

October 25, 2021

Results Table

Business Indicators Relating to Facilities and Products in Texas Current (versus previous month)
Indicator	Oct Index	Sep Index	Change	Series Average	Trend*	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Production	18.3	24.2	–5.9	10.7	17(+)	30.4	57.5	12.1
Capacity Utilization	20.1	24.5	–4.4	8.6	17(+)	31.7	56.7	11.6
New Orders	14.9	9.5	+5.4	6.6	17(+)	34.2	46.5	19.3
Growth Rate of Orders	13.6	2.5	+11.1	0.5	16(+)	25.2	63.2	11.6
Unfilled Orders	20.9	14.9	+6.0	–1.8	16(+)	30.5	59.9	9.6
Shipments	13.8	18.7	–4.9	9.4	17(+)	28.3	57.2	14.5
Delivery Time	25.9	21.4	+4.5	0.7	16(+)	33.9	58.1	8.0
Finished Goods Inventories	–11.1	1.1	–12.2	–3.4	1(–)	11.1	66.7	22.2
Prices Paid for Raw Materials	76.3	80.4	–4.1	26.4	18(+)	76.7	22.9	0.4
Prices Received for Finished Goods	49.8	44.0	+5.8	7.4	15(+)	50.5	48.8	0.7
Wages and Benefits	44.1	42.7	+1.4	19.2	18(+)	45.2	53.7	1.1
Employment	28.3	26.3	+2.0	7.0	16(+)	32.2	63.9	3.9
Hours Worked	18.5	20.4	–1.9	3.3	16(+)	24.3	69.9	5.8
Capital Expenditures	15.6	11.0	+4.6	6.6	15(+)	23.5	68.6	7.9

General Business Conditions Current (versus previous month)
Indicator	Oct Index	Sep Index	Change	Series Average	Trend**	% Reporting Improved	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Worsened
Company Outlook	2.4	–2.8	+5.2	6.9	1(+)	20.8	60.8	18.4
General Business Activity	14.6	4.6	+10.0	3.0	15(+)	25.3	64.0	10.7

Indicator	Oct Index	Sep Index	Change	Series Average	Trend*	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Outlook Uncertainty†	29.0	23.3	+5.7	13.5	6(+)	35.0	59.0	6.0

Business Indicators Relating to Facilities and Products in Texas Future (six months ahead)
Indicator	Oct Index	Sep Index	Change	Series Average	Trend*	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Production	46.8	41.8	+5.0	38.6	18(+)	54.5	37.8	7.7
Capacity Utilization	48.6	31.9	+16.7	35.4	18(+)	53.0	42.6	4.4
New Orders	39.3	33.4	+5.9	36.2	18(+)	47.9	43.6	8.6
Growth Rate of Orders	29.3	25.9	+3.4	27.0	18(+)	39.7	49.9	10.4
Unfilled Orders	–0.1	–2.9	+2.8	3.9	3(–)	16.4	67.1	16.5
Shipments	48.5	32.9	+15.6	37.1	18(+)	54.8	38.9	6.3
Delivery Time	5.8	10.2	–4.4	–1.3	9(+)	24.7	56.4	18.9
Finished Goods Inventories	6.7	9.4	–2.7	0.3	12(+)	21.1	64.4	14.4
Prices Paid for Raw Materials	48.9	55.3	–6.4	34.2	19(+)	60.9	27.2	12.0
Prices Received for Finished Goods	40.6	44.6	–4.0	20.2	18(+)	51.6	37.4	11.0
Wages and Benefits	60.3	50.4	+9.9	38.3	18(+)	62.9	34.5	2.6
Employment	35.1	49.8	–14.7	22.8	17(+)	41.9	51.3	6.8
Hours Worked	7.1	18.7	–11.6	9.4	18(+)	13.5	80.1	6.4
Capital Expenditures	24.9	30.0	–5.1	19.9	17(+)	37.4	50.1	12.5

General Business Conditions Future (six months ahead)
Indicator	Oct Index	Sep Index	Change	Series Average	Trend**	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Worsened
Company Outlook	14.1	12.7	+1.4	20.7	17(+)	29.2	55.7	15.1
General Business Activity	15.0	11.5	+3.5	14.7	17(+)	28.0	59.0	13.0

*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.