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, the seasonally unadjusted diffusion index for the number of employees (share of CEOs seeing a recent increase minus share reporting a decrease) was 14.0 in October 2026, compared to 7.9 in the previous month.
Sample. There are 304 observations overall in the monthly series presented in the figure above. The series covers the time range extending from July 2001 to October 2026.
History. Here’s a quick look at a few simple statistics we computed on the whole sample: the diffusion index had an average value of 4.2; it reached its minimum of -48.4 in April 2020; it achieved a maximum of 30.8 in May 2004.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-08-31 | 11.3000 |
| 2026-09-30 | 7.90000 |
| 2026-10-31 | 14.0000 |
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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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