Texas manufacturing firms' overall business activity weakened month over month in September as growth in production, new orders and shipments slowed, according to latest survey data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
The Dallas Fed's seasonally adjusted general business activity index declined to 1.5 in September from 2.7 in the prior month, when the index rebounded from contraction. A positive index reading indicates a monthly expansion.
The latest index reading surpassed the consensus estimate of 1.0 from economists polled by Econoday.
Several economic indicators gauging the health of the state's manufacturing sector posted declines in September, with the production index falling to 13.9 from 17.9 in August. The new orders index dropped to 7.1 from 9.3, and the shipments index decreased to 14.7 from 17.6.
Meanwhile, the employment index jumped to 18.8 from 5.5, although the wages and benefits index slumped to 17.4 from 27.3.
The company outlook index rose to 7.4 from 5.0, while the index gauging company outlook uncertainty fell to 13.3 from 18.6.
The index of future general business activity, which measures expectations regarding business conditions in the next six months, dropped to negative 6.8 from 1.4, marking the second time it fell into negative territory this year.
