Empire State Manufacturing Survey: Number of employees: Future (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 a sample of manufacturing firms surveyd by the FED, the seasonally unadjusted diffusion index for the number of employees (share of CEOs seeing a future increase minus share forecasting a decrease) stood at 21.2 in April 2026, compared to 25.5 in the previous month.
Sample. In the monthly time series plotted above, there are 298 data points overall. The series covers the time period going from July 2001 to April 2026.
History. Here's a snapshot of some descriptive statistics we computed on the whole sample: the diffusion index had an average value of 17.9; it reached its highest level of 44.5 in April 2021; it reached its minimum of -23.6 in March 2009.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-02-28 | 30.3 |
| 2026-03-31 | 25.5 |
| 2026-04-30 | 21.2 |
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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 | 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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