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 manufacturing firms' responses to the Empire State Survey carried out by the New York FED, the seasonally unadjusted diffusion index for the number of employees (share of CEOs seeing a recent increase minus share reporting a decrease) was 12.1 in April 2026, compared to 6.9 in March.
Sample. There are 298 records in the monthly time series displayed in the graph above. The series covers the time period stretching from July 2001 to April 2026.
History. Here’s a quick look at some summary statistics calculated on the full sample: the diffusion index reached its lowest level of -48.4 in April 2020; it attained a maximum of 30.8 in May 2004; it was equal on average to 4.0.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-02-28 | 3.0 |
| 2026-03-31 | 6.9 |
| 2026-04-30 | 12.1 |
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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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