Texas factory activity remained relatively flat in May, according to business executives responding to the Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey. The production index, a key measure of state manufacturing conditions, inched down from 0.9 to -1.3, with the near-zero reading suggestive of little change in output from last month. Other measures of manufacturing activity showed declines in May. The new orders index has now been in negative territory for a year and pushed down further from -9.6 to -16.1. The growth rate of orders index also fell, declining 10 points to -20.7, its lowest value since mid-2020. The capacity ... (full story)