Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity: Capacity utilization: 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 capacity utilization (share of CEOs seeing a recent increase minus share reporting a decrease) was 5.0 in April 2026, compared to -5.0 in March 2026.
Sample. There are 350 data points overall in the monthly time series shown in the chart above. The time period covered by the series stretches from January 1997 to April 2026.
History. Here are some descriptive statistics computed on the entire sample: the diffusion index reached its maximum of 30.0 in March 2004; it reached a trough of -53.0 in April 2020; it had a mean value of -0.9.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-02-28 | -12.0 |
| 2026-03-31 | -5.0 |
| 2026-04-30 | 5.0 |
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Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Did capacity utilization 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) |
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