Empire State Manufacturing Survey: Capital expenditures: 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 recent survey data about manufacturing firms in the State of New York, the seasonally unadjusted diffusion index for capital expenditures (share of CEOs seeing a future increase minus share forecasting a decrease) was 13.1 in April 2026, compared to 21.6 in March.
Sample. There are 298 records overall in the monthly time series presented in the graph above. The time range covered by the series extends from July 2001 to April 2026.
History. Here's a snapshot of some simple statistics we computed on the full sample: the diffusion index reached a maximum of 42.3 in December 2003; it recorded a bottom of -19.1 in March 2009; it had a mean value of 18.7.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-02-28 | 18.2 |
| 2026-03-31 | 21.6 |
| 2026-04-30 | 13.1 |
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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 | 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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