Research >> Economics
Texas Manufacturing Activity Declines Continue to Moderate
Results of the Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey suggest that factory activity continued to contract at a slower pace in August.
The production index dipped slightly. Indexes for capacity utilization, new orders and growth rate of orders ticked upward, but they remained negative. For the most part, the changes reflect fewer companies seeing declines in these measures.
The August survey echoes the broad signal from the previous five months that Texas factory output and employment is still receding but at a slower pace. The signal for a recovery will be positive readings in key current indexes.
Although still negative, the business activity index saw significant improvement as the share of companies reporting better market conditions rose and the share reporting weaker conditions declined from July to August. The company outlook index also strengthened, recovering ground lost since May 2008.
Posted: August 31, 2009 Monday 10:30 AM