texas manufacturing output slowed in april and overall activity in the manufacturing sector barely grew a survey from the federal reserve bank of dallas showed monday the production index of the texas manufacturing outlook surveya key measure of state manufacturing conditionsfell to 108 in april from 132 in march its lowest since january 2021 the reading suggests that factory output increased slightly as a positive reading indicates expansion but at a softer pace than in the previous month overall activity weakened markedly over the month according to the surveys data the index for general business activitywhich assesses broader business conditionsdecreased to 11 from 87 the previous month the lowest level since july 2020 and below economists consensus forecast of 100 in a poll by the wall street journal the company outlook index fell to minus 55 its lowest reading in two years the dallas fed said growth in demand kept pace according to the survey the new orders index rose slightly to 121 in april from 105 the prior month and the growth rate of orders index was broadly unchanged at 130 the shipments index increased to 118 from 70 the employment index edged down to 246 from 255 but it continued to signal broadbased job creation among firms in the area supplychains bottlenecks persisted with the delivery times index falling slightly to 212 from 232 and the unfilled orders index decreasing to 105 from 124 inflation pressures were elevated but eased somewhat in april the index which gauges the prices paid for raw materials fell to 615 from 740 its lowest reading in more than a year and the index for finished goods prices declined to 435 from 478 the supply chain is in chaos right now everything is continually increasing said one of the respondents of the survey and manufacturer of plastics and rubber products companies in the area were less optimistic about the shortterm outlook with the future general business activity index falling to 18 from 82 the previous month data from the survey showed however expectations for production capital expenditures and employment remained solidly in positive territory the dallas fed said