Texas Manufacturing Activity Slows Sharply in November -- Dallas Fed
November 30 2020 - 11:20AM
Dow Jones News
By Xavier Fontdegloria
Factory activity in Texas expanded in November for the sixth
consecutive month, but its growth pace decelerated markedly
compared with October, data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
showed Monday.
The production index of the Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey,
a key measure of state manufacturing conditions, stood at 7.2 in
November, down from 25.5 in September and indicative of a
deceleration in output growth.
In the survey, researchers at the Federal Reserve in Dallas ask
Texas executives about a range of conditions in the industrial
sector. They are asked whether certain parameters such as output,
employment or orders increased, decreased or remained unchanged
over the previous month.
The index for general business activity for November also
decreased, to 12.0 from 19.8 the previous month, signaling that
overall activity in the manufacturing sector eased. Economists
polled by FactSet had expected the reading to decline to 13.3.
Other measures of manufacturing activity also point to slower
growth this month, as the indexes remained positive but came in
below last month's readings, the Dallas Fed said.
The new orders index fell 13 points to 7.2, and the growth rate
of orders index dropped five points to 9.7.
The capacity utilization index decreased sharply to 6.9 from
23.0 the previous month, while the shipments index fell to 13.7
from 21.9.
Contrary to the general slowing trend, the employment index
ticked up three points to 11.7, suggesting a slight pickup in
hiring. In November, 25% of firms noted net hiring and 13% noted
net layoffs.
Expectations regarding future business conditions remained
positive in November, though several key indexes moved down from
their October readings, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
said.
The future company outlook index decreased to 22.5 in November
from 31.7 in October, while the future general business activity
index fell to 25.8 from the 28.4 level registered the prior
month.
Write to Xavier Fontdegloria at xavier.fontdegloria@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 30, 2020 11:05 ET (16:05 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.