Empire State Manufacturing Survey: Average employee workweek: Future (increase vs decrease; diffusion index; percentage points; seasonally unadjusted) - United States - NY FED - Monthly
This series is part of the dataset: Empire State Manufacturing Survey (NY FED)
Download Full Dataset (.xlsx)Latest updates. Based on a sample of manufacturing firms surveyd by the FED, the seasonally unadjusted diffusion index for the average employee workweek (share of CEOs seeing a future increase minus share forecasting a decrease) stood at 12.9 in December 2025, versus 5.8 in November.
Sample. In this monthly series, there are 294 observations in total. The series covers the time span stretching from July 2001 to December 2025.
History. Check out some simple statistics calculated on the whole sample: the diffusion index was equal on average to 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 |
|---|---|
| 2025-10-31 | 9.7 |
| 2025-11-30 | 5.8 |
| 2025-12-31 | 12.9 |
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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 | No |
| 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) |
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