Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey
April 28, 2020
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 |
Revenue | –65.4 | –67.0 | +1.6 | 11.2 | 2(–) | 8.1 | 18.3 | 73.5 |
Employment | –35.2 | –23.8 | –11.4 | 6.2 | 2(–) | 3.5 | 57.8 | 38.7 |
Part–Time Employment | –33.0 | –21.4 | –11.6 | 1.4 | 2(–) | 3.6 | 59.8 | 36.6 |
Hours Worked | –48.2 | –43.0 | –5.2 | 2.2 | 2(–) | 7.9 | 36.0 | 56.1 |
Wages and Benefits | –21.7 | –12.4 | –9.3 | 14.3 | 2(–) | 8.5 | 61.3 | 30.2 |
Input Prices | –3.8 | 0.1 | –3.9 | 25.1 | 1(–) | 18.0 | 60.2 | 21.8 |
Selling Prices | –47.8 | –44.5 | –3.3 | 4.9 | 2(–) | 1.1 | 50.0 | 48.9 |
Capital Expenditures | –45.6 | –22.7 | –22.9 | 10.2 | 2(–) | 5.4 | 43.7 | 51.0 |
| 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 | –69.5 | –75.3 | +5.8 | 5.2 | 2(–) | 3.5 | 23.6 | 73.0 |
General Business Activity | –81.7 | –78.8 | –2.9 | 3.0 | 2(–) | 0.2 | 17.9 | 81.9 |
| Indicator | Apr Index | Mar Index | Change | Series Average | Trend* | % Reporting Increase | % Reporting No Change | % Reporting Decrease |
Outlook Uncertainty† | 43.2 | 37.6 | +5.6 | 13.1 | 27(+) | 64.3 | 14.6 | 21.1 |
| 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 |
Revenue | –16.3 | –40.3 | +24.0 | 37.1 | 2(–) | 39.2 | 5.3 | 55.5 |
Employment | –13.0 | –32.3 | +19.3 | 21.7 | 2(–) | 21.8 | 43.4 | 34.8 |
Part–Time Employment | –15.1 | –23.4 | +8.3 | 6.4 | 2(–) | 13.5 | 58.0 | 28.6 |
Hours Worked | –3.3 | –18.2 | +14.9 | 5.3 | 2(–) | 23.0 | 50.7 | 26.3 |
Wages and Benefits | 3.6 | 1.7 | +1.9 | 36.1 | 160(+) | 28.5 | 46.6 | 24.9 |
Input Prices | 2.5 | 9.6 | –7.1 | 43.9 | 160(+) | 24.3 | 53.8 | 21.8 |
Selling Prices | –17.5 | –16.7 | –0.8 | 23.0 | 2(–) | 17.7 | 47.1 | 35.2 |
Capital Expenditures | –27.5 | –23.4 | –4.1 | 23.6 | 2(–) | 13.9 | 44.7 | 41.4 |
| General Business Conditions Future (six months ahead) | ||||||||
| Indicator | Apr Index | Mar Index | Change | Series Average | Trend** | % Reporting Improved | % Reporting No Change | % Reporting Worsened |
Company Outlook | –31.3 | –49.1 | +17.8 | 16.3 | 2(–) | 26.6 | 15.6 | 57.9 |
General Business Activity | –27.1 | –50.4 | +23.3 | 13.0 | 2(–) | 23.7 | 25.5 | 50.8 |
Texas Retail Outlook Survey
| Business Indicators Relating to Facilities and Products in Texas Retail (versus previous month) | ||||||||
| Indicator | Apr Index | Mar Index | Change | Series Average | Trend* | % Reporting Increase | % Reporting No Change | % Reporting Decrease |
Retail Activity in Texas | ||||||||
Sales | –78.5 | –82.6 | +4.1 | 5.7 | 3(–) | 7.0 | 7.5 | 85.5 |
Employment | –48.8 | –28.4 | –20.4 | 1.9 | 3(–) | 2.8 | 45.6 | 51.6 |
Part–Time Employment | –40.7 | –25.5 | –15.2 | –2.0 | 2(–) | 5.1 | 49.2 | 45.8 |
Hours Worked | –64.9 | –58.1 | –6.8 | –2.0 | 3(–) | 4.1 | 26.9 | 69.0 |
Wages and Benefits | –35.4 | –20.6 | –14.8 | 9.4 | 2(–) | 4.5 | 55.6 | 39.9 |
Input Prices | –24.4 | –12.0 | –12.4 | 18.7 | 2(–) | 5.7 | 64.2 | 30.1 |
Selling Prices | –38.5 | –35.5 | –3.0 | 10.0 | 2(–) | 1.4 | 58.7 | 39.9 |
Capital Expenditures | –60.7 | –37.5 | –23.2 | 8.3 | 2(–) | 0.0 | 39.3 | 60.7 |
Inventories | –45.5 | –42.6 | –2.9 | 3.2 | 3(–) | 12.2 | 30.1 | 57.7 |
Companywide Retail Activity | ||||||||
Companywide Sales | –75.1 | –83.0 | +7.9 | 7.4 | 3(–) | 5.9 | 13.1 | 81.0 |
Companywide Internet Sales | –30.4 | –45.6 | +15.2 | 6.5 | 2(–) | 14.7 | 40.2 | 45.1 |
| General Business Conditions, Retail Current (versus previous month) | ||||||||
| Indicator | Apr Index | Mar Index | Change | Series Average | Trend** | % Reporting Improved | % Reporting No Change | % Reporting Worsened |
Company Outlook | –84.0 | –83.8 | –0.2 | 3.2 | 3(–) | 0.5 | 15.0 | 84.5 |
General Business Activity | –83.8 | –84.2 | +0.4 | –1.1 | 4(–) | 0.7 | 14.8 | 84.5 |
| Outlook Uncertainty Current (versus previous month) | ||||||||
| Indicator | Apr Index | Mar Index | Change | Series Average | Trend* | % Reporting Increase | % Reporting No Change | % Reporting Decrease |
Outlook Uncertainty† | 41.0 | 46.4 | –5.4 | 11.8 | 4(+) | 62.3 | 16.4 | 21.3 |
| Business Indicators Relating to Facilities and Products in Texas, Retail Future (six months ahead) | ||||||||
| Indicator | Apr Index | Mar Index | Change | Series Average | Trend* | % Reporting Increase | % Reporting No Change | % Reporting Decrease |
Retail Activity in Texas | ||||||||
Sales | –12.3 | –49.8 | +37.5 | 31.8 | 2(–) | 34.4 | 18.9 | 46.7 |
Employment | –10.7 | –46.1 | +35.4 | 11.8 | 3(–) | 20.5 | 48.3 | 31.2 |
Part–Time Employment | –18.2 | –23.2 | +5.0 | 0.5 | 2(–) | 13.3 | 55.2 | 31.5 |
Hours Worked | –2.4 | –24.7 | +22.3 | 2.5 | 3(–) | 29.1 | 39.4 | 31.5 |
Wages and Benefits | –3.4 | –3.5 | +0.1 | 27.0 | 2(–) | 24.3 | 48.0 | 27.7 |
Input Prices | –12.5 | –7.3 | –5.2 | 32.6 | 2(–) | 14.3 | 58.9 | 26.8 |
Selling Prices | –10.9 | –10.7 | –0.2 | 28.7 | 2(–) | 16.4 | 56.4 | 27.3 |
Capital Expenditures | –23.2 | –34.5 | +11.3 | 17.3 | 2(–) | 17.9 | 41.1 | 41.1 |
Inventories | –24.8 | –31.4 | +6.6 | 7.8 | 3(–) | 21.2 | 32.8 | 46.0 |
Companywide Retail Activity | ||||||||
Companywide Sales | –15.1 | –36.5 | +21.4 | 30.4 | 2(–) | 30.8 | 23.3 | 45.9 |
Companywide Internet Sales | 5.2 | –6.5 | +11.7 | 21.6 | 1(+) | 26.3 | 52.6 | 21.1 |
| General Business Conditions, Retail Future (six months ahead) | ||||||||
| Indicator | Apr Index | Mar Index | Change | Series Average | Trend** | % Reporting Improved | % Reporting No Change | % Reporting Worsened |
Company Outlook | –22.6 | –62.4 | +39.8 | 16.5 | 2(–) | 27.7 | 22.0 | 50.3 |
General Business Activity | –20.9 | –66.0 | +45.1 | 12.3 | 3(–) | 29.1 | 20.9 | 50.0 |
*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 Service Sector Outlook Survey can be addressed to Christopher Slijk at christopher.slijk@dal.frb.org.
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