Empire State Manufacturing Survey: Number of employees: 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 the number of employees (share of CEOs seeing a recent increase minus share reporting a decrease) was 5.5 in August 2025, compared to 9.2 in July.
Sample. In this montly series, there are 290 data points overall. The series covers the span of time going from July 2001 to August 2025.
History. Here's a snapshot of a few simple statistics computed on the entire sample: the diffusion index hit a peak of 30.8 in May 2004; it reached its minimum of -48.4 in April 2020; it was equal on average to 4.0.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2025-06-30 | 6.4 |
| 2025-07-31 | 9.2 |
| 2025-08-31 | 5.5 |
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Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Did the number of employees 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 | Montly |
| 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) |