Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity: Availability of skills needed: Current (increase vs decrease; diffusion index; percentage points; seasonally adjusted) - United States - Richmond FED - Monthly
This series is part of the dataset: Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity (Richmond FED)
Download Full Dataset (.xlsx)Latest updates. Based on a sample of manufacturing firms surveyd by the FED, the seasonally adjusted diffusion index for the availability of skills needed (share of CEOs seeing a recent increase minus share reporting a decrease) stood at -2.0 in November 2025, compared to -7.0 in October.
Sample. There are 181 records in the monthly series presented in the figure above. The series covers the time range extending from February 2010 to November 2025.
History. Here's a peek at some simple statistics calculated on the whole sample: the diffusion index recorded its maximum of 7.0 in February 2010; it registered a minimum of -41.0 in May 2021; it had a mean value of -7.5.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2025-09-30 | -2.0 |
| 2025-10-31 | -7.0 |
| 2025-11-30 | -2.0 |
Suggestion. Our metadata often comprise references to the original sources of the time-series data shown on FetchSeries. You can use these references to discover more details.
Not for investment purposes. Content found on FetchSeries is not not supposed to be used for investment purposes or other financial decisions. Users should consult expert advice and do independent analysis before pledging money to any investment.
Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Did the availability of skills needed 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 | Yes |
| Rescaling | None |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Unit | Percentage points |
| Source | Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond |
| Source type | Central bank |
| Data licence | Not copyrightable under U.S. law |
| Measure type | Diffusion index (share of respondents reporting an increase minus share reporting a decrease) |
Series in the same data set
Discover the other time series included in this data set.