by Calculated Risk on 8/28/2017 10:37:00 AM

From the Dallas Fed: Texas Manufacturing Activity Expands Again

Texas factory activity continued to increase in August, according to business executives responding to the Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey. The production index, a key measure of state manufacturing conditions, edged down to 20.3, indicating output grew but at a slightly slower pace than in July.

Other measures of current manufacturing activity also indicated continued growth. The new orders and the growth rate of orders indexes ticked down but stayed solidly positive, coming in at 14.3 and 11.7, respectively. The capacity utilization index fell six points to 12.2, while the shipments index increased seven points to 18.1.

Perceptions of broader business conditions remained positive in August. The general business activity index was largely unchanged at a robust 17.0. The company outlook index posted its 12th consecutive positive reading but slipped 10 points to 16.3 after surging to a multiyear high last month.

Labor market measures suggested continued employment gains and longer workweeks this month. The employment index came in at 9.9, slightly below the July reading, extending this year’s string of positive readings. Eighteen percent of firms noted net hiring, compared with eight percent noting net layoffs. The hours worked index rose five points to 14.5.
emphasis added

This was the last of the regional Fed surveys for August.

Here is a graph comparing the regional Fed surveys and the ISM manufacturing index:

Click on graph for larger image.

The New York and Philly Fed surveys are averaged together (yellow, through August), and five Fed surveys are averaged (blue, through August) including New York, Philly, Richmond, Dallas and Kansas City. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) PMI (red) is through July (right axis).

Based on these regional surveys, it seems likely the ISM manufacturing index will increase in August compared to July (to be released Friday, Sept 1st). The consensus is for the ISM index to increase to 56.6 in August from 56.3 in July.