Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey

Surveys

December 28, 2021

Results Table

Business Indicators Relating to Facilities and Products in Texas Current (versus previous month)
Indicator	Dec Index	Nov Index	Change	Series Average	Trend*	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Revenue	20.4	25.4	–5.0	11.2	17(+)	35.6	49.2	15.2
Employment	10.7	12.9	–2.2	6.3	17(+)	20.0	70.7	9.3
Part–Time Employment	5.8	9.8	–4.0	1.4	13(+)	10.5	84.8	4.7
Hours Worked	10.2	13.3	–3.1	2.7	16(+)	13.6	83.0	3.4
Wages and Benefits	35.4	35.1	+0.3	14.7	19(+)	36.2	63.0	0.8
Input Prices	47.8	51.8	–4.0	25.8	20(+)	49.0	49.8	1.2
Selling Prices	27.4	29.7	–2.3	6.0	17(+)	30.6	66.2	3.2
Capital Expenditures	16.4	19.9	–3.5	9.8	16(+)	20.4	75.6	4.0

General Business Conditions Current (versus previous month)
Indicator	Dec Index	Nov Index	Change	Series Average	Trend**	% Reporting Improved	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Worsened
Company Outlook	13.7	16.8	–3.1	5.6	17(+)	22.3	69.2	8.6
General Business Activity	12.9	22.7	–9.8	3.9	11(+)	21.6	69.7	8.7

Indicator	Dec Index	Nov Index	Change	Series Average	Trend*	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Outlook Uncertainty†	10.5	13.0	–2.5	11.0	7(+)	19.9	70.7	9.4

Business Indicators Relating to Facilities and Products in Texas Future (six months ahead)
Indicator	Dec Index	Nov Index	Change	Series Average	Trend*	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Revenue	53.3	54.4	–1.1	37.6	20(+)	57.6	38.1	4.3
Employment	41.2	45.0	–3.8	22.6	20(+)	46.1	49.0	4.9
Part–Time Employment	14.5	16.2	–1.7	6.8	19(+)	18.0	78.5	3.5
Hours Worked	12.1	13.3	–1.2	5.9	20(+)	15.1	81.9	3.0
Wages and Benefits	55.5	55.2	+0.3	36.4	20(+)	56.1	43.3	0.6
Input Prices	57.4	59.6	–2.2	43.7	180(+)	58.0	41.4	0.6
Selling Prices	43.4	46.6	–3.2	23.5	20(+)	46.5	50.4	3.1
Capital Expenditures	35.5	34.4	+1.1	23.4	19(+)	39.8	55.9	4.3

General Business Conditions Future (six months ahead)
Indicator	Dec Index	Nov Index	Change	Series Average	Trend**	% Reporting Improved	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Worsened
Company Outlook	20.2	26.2	–6.0	17.0	17(+)	30.5	59.2	10.3
General Business Activity	21.9	30.0	–8.1	14.2	17(+)	31.8	58.3	9.9

December 28, 2021

Results Table

Business Indicators Relating to Facilities and Products in Texas Retail (versus previous month)
Indicator	Dec Index	Nov Index	Change	Series Average	Trend*	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Retail Activity in Texas
Sales	13.4	23.0	–9.6	5.6	2(+)	33.0	47.5	19.6
Employment	7.2	5.9	+1.3	1.8	2(+)	17.5	72.2	10.3
Part–Time Employment	7.4	9.6	–2.2	–1.7	10(+)	16.7	74.0	9.3
Hours Worked	4.6	4.3	+0.3	–1.8	5(+)	12.8	79.0	8.2
Wages and Benefits	40.5	44.5	–4.0	10.0	17(+)	43.3	53.9	2.8
Input Prices	44.3	65.9	–21.6	20.8	20(+)	48.9	46.5	4.6
Selling Prices	45.6	59.5	–13.9	12.4	19(+)	48.3	49.0	2.7
Capital Expenditures	5.2	24.3	–19.1	7.8	11(+)	9.9	85.4	4.7
Inventories	15.1	10.6	+4.5	2.1	2(+)	29.5	56.1	14.4
Companywide Retail Activity
Companywide Sales	20.3	24.1	–3.8	7.2	10(+)	35.6	49.1	15.3
Companywide Internet Sales	14.9	10.0	+4.9	5.9	2(+)	21.6	71.7	6.7

General Business Conditions, Retail Current (versus previous month)
Indicator	Dec Index	Nov Index	Change	Series Average	Trend**	% Reporting Improved	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Worsened
Company Outlook	14.6	12.5	+2.1	3.7	2(+)	17.3	80.0	2.7
General Business Activity	8.5	14.9	–6.4	0.1	10(+)	16.0	76.5	7.5

Outlook Uncertainty Current (versus previous month)
Indicator	Dec Index	Nov Index	Change	Series Average	Trend*	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Outlook Uncertainty†	2.4	16.0	–13.6	9.1	7(+)	9.5	83.3	7.1

Business Indicators Relating to Facilities and Products in Texas, Retail Future (six months ahead)
Indicator	Dec Index	Nov Index	Change	Series Average	Trend*	% Reporting Increase	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Decrease
Retail Activity in Texas
Sales	44.2	36.7	+7.5	32.8	20(+)	50.2	43.8	6.0
Employment	33.1	27.1	+6.0	13.0	20(+)	40.1	52.9	7.0
Part–Time Employment	15.0	12.4	+2.6	1.6	17(+)	19.1	76.8	4.1
Hours Worked	4.8	8.1	–3.3	3.0	20(+)	13.6	77.6	8.8
Wages and Benefits	51.4	48.4	+3.0	28.3	20(+)	54.0	43.4	2.6
Input Prices	48.9	52.4	–3.5	33.6	20(+)	51.2	46.5	2.3
Selling Prices	44.2	45.2	–1.0	29.6	20(+)	51.2	41.9	7.0
Capital Expenditures	23.3	27.5	–4.2	17.6	19(+)	32.6	58.1	9.3
Inventories	35.8	19.6	+16.2	10.2	20(+)	45.2	45.5	9.4
Companywide Retail Activity
Companywide Sales	46.7	33.8	+12.9	31.4	20(+)	49.2	48.3	2.5
Companywide Internet Sales	34.3	23.5	+10.8	22.7	21(+)	34.3	65.7	0.0

General Business Conditions, Retail Future (six months ahead)
Indicator	Dec Index	Nov Index	Change	Series Average	Trend**	% Reporting Improved	% Reporting No Change	% Reporting Worsened
Company Outlook	18.6	26.1	–7.5	17.7	20(+)	21.9	74.8	3.3
General Business Activity	10.6	18.3	–7.7	13.4	17(+)	21.5	67.6	10.9

*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 Service Sector Outlook Survey can be addressed to Christopher Slijk at christopher.slijk@dal.frb.org.

Results Table

Texas Retail Outlook Survey

Results Table