Empire State Manufacturing Survey: General business activity: Current (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 general business activity (share of CEOs seeing a recent increase minus share reporting a decrease) was -23.8 in December 2025, compared to 16.3 in November 2025.
Sample. There are 294 data points overall in the monthly series displayed in the figure above. The series covers the span of time extending from July 2001 to December 2025.
History. Here's a peek at a few statistics calculated on the full sample: the diffusion index reached its minimum of -73.5 in April 2020; it recorded a maximum of 45.8 in April 2004; it was equal on average to 6.1.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2025-10-31 | 6.8 |
| 2025-11-30 | 16.3 |
| 2025-12-31 | -23.8 |
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Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Did general business activity increase or decrease in the past month? |
| Country | United States |
| Economic concept | Business survey response |
| Data type | Coincident 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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