texas manufacturing activity contracted in july for a third straight month and factory output grew marginally according to a survey from the federal reserve bank of dallas released monday the index for general business activity of the texas manufacturing outlook survey which assesses business conditions of the states factory sector decreased to minus 226 from minus 177 the previous month the lowest reading since april 2020 and signaling that activity contracted the reading is below the minus 10 expected by economists in a poll carried out by the wall street journal the production indexa key measure of state manufacturing conditionsrose slightly to 38 in july from 23 in june in a sign that factory output expanded only marginally over the month as the reading is close to zero other measures of manufacturing activity painted a mixed picture in july the dallas fed said demand for goods weakened further according to the survey the new orders index fell to minus 92 in july from minus 73 in june while the growth rate of orders index rose to minus 12 from minus 162 the prior month both indicators suggest that the decline in factory orders continued over the month hiring among goodsproducers in texas remained strong with the employment index increasing to 179 from 152 supplychain bottlenecks showed further signs of easing data from the survey showed the delivery times index declined to 23 from 199 and the unfilled orders index increased to 61 from minus 88 inflation pressures also abated somewhat the raw materials prices index declined to 384 from 575 a month earlier and the finished goods prices index fell to 293 from 338 manufacturing firms in texas were less pessimistic about their shortterm outlook with the future general business activity index rising to minus 177 in july from minus 26 the previous month however the index remained below zero and suggested that the majority of those polled expect activity to worsen in the next six months other measures of future manufacturing activity like capacity utilization and new orders were positive in july the dallas fed said