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. According to survey data about NY-based manufacturers collected by the Federal Reserve, the seasonally adjusted diffusion index for the number of employees (share of CEOs seeing a future increase minus share forecasting a decrease) stood at 7.5 in October 2025, compared to 1.2 in September.
Sample. There are 292 records overall in the monthly time series presented in the graph above. The span of time covered by the series goes from July 2001 to October 2025.
History. Here's a snapshot of some descriptive statistics calculated on the whole sample: the diffusion index averaged 18.0; it reached its maximum of 42.8 in July 2021; it reached a minimum of -22.0 in March 2009.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2025-08-31 | 6.9 |
| 2025-09-30 | 1.2 |
| 2025-10-31 | 7.5 |
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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) |