By Kimberly Chin 
 

General business activity in Texas fell in September, while the production index, a measure of state manufacturing conditions, grew at a slower pace.

The general business activity index, which is part of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas's Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey, fell in August to 28.1 though it was still regarded as relatively high, the Dallas Fed said in a release. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal were expecting a reading of 31.7.

Readings above zero reflect expanding activity.

The production index fell to 23.3, down 6 points from its August reading.

The Dallas Fed collected the data Sept. 11-19, with 116 Texas manufacturers responding.

In the latest report, new orders, capacity utilization and shipments indexes had also fallen from August, signaling slower expansion for the month. The new orders index fell to its lowest reading in six months to 14.7, down nine points from the previous month. The capacity utilization index fell slightly to 21.6 while the shipments index fell 5 points to 20.8.

The finished goods inventories index slipped to 13.6 from 15.8 in August.

Employment had also slowed in September, with the employment index dropping 11 points to 17.7 from the previous month.

Tariffs were a theme in survey respondents' comments, with 45% saying tariffs would have little impact on their businesses though 35% said that the tariffs would hurt business and disrupt their ability to enter into contracts.

Indexes measuring future business conditions and the outlook from companies also fell in August.

Write to Kimberly Chin at kimberly.chin@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 24, 2018 11:31 ET (15:31 GMT)