Empire State Manufacturing Survey: Capital expenditures: 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 capital expenditures (share of CEOs seeing a future increase minus share forecasting a decrease) was 14.0 in October 2026, compared to 14.9 in September.
Sample. In the monthly time series shown in the figure, there are a total of 304 observations. The series covers the time range stretching from July 2001 to October 2026.
History. Here’s a quick look at some statistics we computed on the full sample: the diffusion index had a mean of 18.6; it reached its highest level of 42.3 in December 2003; it hit a minimum of -19.1 in March 2009.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-08-31 | 16.5000 |
| 2026-09-30 | 14.9000 |
| 2026-10-31 | 14.0000 |
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Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Will capital expenditures 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.