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. According to survey data about NY-based manufacturers collected by the Federal Reserve, the seasonally unadjusted diffusion index for the average employee workweek (share of CEOs seeing a future increase minus share forecasting a decrease) was 4.0 in April 2026, compared to 10.8 in March.
Sample. There are 298 records overall in the monthly series presented in the plot above. The time span covered by the series goes from July 2001 to April 2026.
History. Have a look at a few summary statistics computed on the whole sample: the diffusion index achieved a maximum of 33.0 in February 2002; it reached a minimum of -13.8 in February 2009; it averaged 7.3.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-02-28 | 15.2 |
| 2026-03-31 | 10.8 |
| 2026-04-30 | 4.0 |
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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 | 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) |
Series in the same data set
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