Manufacturing Activity in Texas Further Expands in October
27 October 2020 - 2:31AM
Dow Jones News
By Xavier Fontdegloria
Factory activity in Texas expanded in October for the fifth
straight month, accelerating to a more than two-year high, 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, came in at 25.5 in
October, up from 22.3 in September and indicative of a solid
expansion of output.
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 August also
increased, to 19.8 from 13.6 the previous month, a two-year high,
signaling that overall activity in the manufacturing sector is
expanding at a quicker pace. Economists polled by FactSet had
expected the reading to be broadly unchanged at 13.5.
The new orders index increased to 19.9, up from 14.7 in
September. The growth rate of orders index also grew slightly to
14.3 from 13.2 the prior month.
The capacity utilization index climbed to 23.0 in October, up
from 17.5 in September, while the shipments index increased
marginally to 21.9 from 21.5.
The employment index edged down to 8.7 from last month's 14.5,
signalling continuing but less robust hiring. In October, 20% of
firms noted net hiring and 11% noted net layoffs.
Expectations regarding future business conditions remained
positive, roughly unchanged compared with September, the Federal
Reserve Bank of Dallas said.
The future company outlook index decreased to 31.7 in October
from September's 32.5, while the future general business activity
index grew to 28.4 from the 28.0 level registered the prior
month.
Write to Xavier Fontdegloria at xavier.fontdegloria@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 26, 2020 11:16 ET (15:16 GMT)
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