Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity: Capacity utilization: Future (increase vs decrease; diffusion index; percentage points; seasonally unadjusted) - 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 unadjusted diffusion index for capacity utilization (share of CEOs seeing a future increase minus share reporting a decrease) was -10.0 in September 2025, compared to -3.0 in August 2025.
Sample. This monthly series has 259 observations. The time span covered by the series is from January 1997 to September 2025.
History. Here's a peek at some summary statistics we calculated on the whole sample: the diffusion index was equal on average to 21.8; it recorded a bottom of -10.0 in September 2025; it reached its highest level of 48.0 in June 2020.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2025-07-31 | 3.0 |
| 2025-08-31 | -3.0 |
| 2025-09-30 | -10.0 |
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Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Will capacity utilization 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 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) |