The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas reported its general business activity index for manufacturing in Texas dropped to 8.3 in March 2019 from 13.1 in the previous month.

Economists had forecast the indicator to decline to 7.0. 

According to the report, the production index, a key measure of state manufacturing conditions, held fairly steady at 11.5, indicating output growth continued at about the same pace as last month. At the same time, the new orders index fell from 6.9 to 2.4, and the shipments index declined five points to 5.8, while the capacity utilization index moved up four points to 10.9. The employment index held steady at 13.1.