Empire State Manufacturing Survey: Average employee workweek: Future (increase vs decrease; diffusion index; percentage points; seasonally adjusted) - United States - NY FED - Monthly
This series is part of the dataset: Empire State Manufacturing Survey (NY FED)
Download Full Dataset (.xlsx)Latest updates. According to survey data about NY-based manufacturers collected by the Federal Reserve, the seasonally adjusted diffusion index for the average employee workweek (share of CEOs seeing a future increase minus share forecasting a decrease) stood at 17.5 in January 2026, compared to 12.9 in December 2025.
Sample. There are 295 data points overall in the monthly time series displayed in the graph above. The series covers the span of time going from July 2001 to January 2026.
History. Check out some simple statistics computed on the whole sample: the diffusion index had an average value of 7.3; it recorded its highest level of 33.0 in February 2002; it reached a minimum of -13.8 in February 2009.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2025-11-30 | 5.8 |
| 2025-12-31 | 12.9 |
| 2026-01-31 | 17.5 |
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Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Will the average employee workweek increase or decrease over the next six months? |
| Country | United States |
| Economic concept | Business survey response |
| Data type | Leading indicator of the business cycle |
| Deflation method | Not applicable |
| Seasonally adjusted | Yes |
| Rescaling | None |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Unit | Percentage points |
| Source | Federal Reserve Bank of New York |
| Source type | Central bank |
| Data licence | Free use subject to conditions |
| Measure type | Diffusion index (share of respondents reporting an increase minus share reporting a decrease) |
Series in the same data set
Discover the other time series included in this data set.