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. According to survey data about NY-based manufacturers collected by the Federal Reserve, the seasonally unadjusted diffusion index for the number of employees (share of CEOs seeing a recent increase minus share reporting a decrease) was -9.3 in January 2026, compared to 0.0 in December 2025.
Sample. This monthly time series has 295 records. The series covers the span of time extending from July 2001 to January 2026.
History. Here’s a quick look at some summary statistics we calculated on the whole sample: the diffusion index was equal on average to 4.0; it recorded a bottom of -48.4 in April 2020; it reached its maximum of 30.8 in May 2004.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2025-11-30 | 6.7 |
| 2025-12-31 | 0.0 |
| 2026-01-31 | -9.3 |
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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 | 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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