Coronavirus fallout slams Texas manufacturers [View all]

[TexasTowelie]

Output by Texas factories has slumped an unprecedented amount in recent weeks — contracting to its lowest point in nearly a dozen years — as economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic slams the manufacturing sector, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

“We are looking at the possibility of heavy losses for the coming months until the national health emergency stabilizes,” one executive of a metals manufacturer told the Dallas Fed in its March anonymous survey.

“The business disruption due to (the virus) is causing cancellations and holds from a majority of large customers,” the executive said.

The state production index, a barometer of Texas manufacturing conditions devised by the Dallas Fed through its monthly surveys, registered negative 35.3 for March — a 52-point plunge from 16.4 last month and its lowest level since the most recent recession, from late 2007 to mid 2009. Positive readings in the index indicate expansion, while negative readings indicate contraction.

Read more: https://www.statesman.com/business/20200330/coronavirus-fallout-slams-texas-manufacturers