Empire State Manufacturing Survey: Number of employees: Future (increase vs decrease; diffusion index; percentage points; seasonally adjusted) - 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 adjusted diffusion index for the number of employees (share of CEOs seeing a future increase minus share forecasting a decrease) was 22.2 in March 2026, compared to 26.1 in the previous month.
Sample. In the monthly series displayed in the figure, there are 297 records. The series covers the time span stretching from July 2001 to March 2026.
History. Here are some summary statistics calculated on the whole sample: the diffusion index hit a maximum of 42.7 in July 2021; it reached a minimum of -22.0 in March 2009; it had a mean of 18.0.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-01-31 | 14.9 |
| 2026-02-28 | 26.1 |
| 2026-03-31 | 22.2 |
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Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Will the number of employees increase or decrease over the next six months? |
| Country | United States |
| Economic concept | Business survey response |
| Data type | Leading indicator of the business cycle |
| Deflation method | Not applicable |
| Seasonally adjusted | Yes |
| 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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