State Economic Watch

The results of Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s August Services Survey indicate a weakening services sector in the Tenth Federal Reserve District. The top line composite index moved into negative territory for the first time since November 2025, falling to -3 in August from 14 in July. Similarly, the general revenue/sales index fell to 0.0 in August from 19 in the prior month. The employment indexes, employee count, part-time employment and hours worked, were all in the negative single digit range, but it should be noted that these indexes have been bouncing between single digit positive and single digit negative all year. The declines in the six-month expectations indexes were particularly grim, with the composite index falling to 5 in August from 24 in July, and the general revenue/sales index falling to 12 from 39. Finally, the employment six-month expectations indexes all moved from modestly positive to modestly negative territory. One survey respondent noted that “business ...

The Texas manufacturing sector posted solid growth in August according to the results of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey . The top line production index increased six points m/m to 16.1, while the new orders index jumped to 22 in August from 5.4 in July. Capacity utilization and shipments also increased m/m. Additionally, the general business conditions index and the company specific outlook index both gained in the month. The only relatively weak area was employment, with the employment measure falling, while the hours worked index ticked up only slightly. However, all of the six-month forward expectations indexes, including the employment measures, were higher m/m. The results from the Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey were a bit more muted. The top line revenue index fell in August to 6.6 from 9.5 in the prior month. Similar to the Manufacturing Survey, the employment and part-time employment indexes were lower m/m, but the hours worked index...