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) was 1.0 in August 2026, compared to 2.0 in the previous month.
Sample. There are 302 observations overall in the monthly series presented in the plot above. The time period covered by the series extends from July 2001 to August 2026.
History. Here's a snapshot of some descriptive statistics computed on the entire sample: the diffusion index had a mean of 7.3; it reached its maximum of 33.0 in February 2002; it hit a trough of -13.8 in February 2009.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-06-30 | 7.9 |
| 2026-07-31 | 2.0 |
| 2026-08-31 | 1.0 |
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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.