The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas announced on Monday its general
business activity index for manufacturing in Texas rose to -14.4 in November from
an unrevised -19.4 in the previous month. This was the seventh consecutive negative
reading but the highest one in three months.
According to the survey’s details, the
production index, a key gauge of state manufacturing conditions, plunged 5.2
points to 0.8 this month, suggesting a little change in output from October. Meanwhile,
the new orders indicator tumbled 12.1 points to -20.9, remaining in negative
territory for the sixth straight month and reaching its lowest level since May
2020. Elsewhere, the measure of the growth rate of orders declined 6.7 points
to -19.9, the capacity
utilization gauge plummeted 12.5 points to -3.4, returning
into contraction territory after two months of growth, and the shipments index fell 5.9 points to -7.5, slipping
further into negative territory. Meanwhile, the employment measure came in at 5.9
in November, down 11.2 points from October, pointing to the continuing employment
growth albeit at the slowest pace since July 2020. On the price front, the raw
materials prices index fell 9.4 points to 22.6, dropping below its series
average of 28.1 for the first time in more than two years, while the finished
goods prices index decreased 8.3 points to 13.9, remaining slightly above its
series average of 9.0.