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. According to recent survey data about manufacturing firms in the Fifth District, the seasonally unadjusted diffusion index for capacity utilization (share of CEOs seeing a future increase minus share reporting a decrease) was 10.0 in August 2026, compared to 15.0 in the previous month.
Sample. In the monthly time series displayed in the figure, there are 354 records overall. The time span covered by the series is from January 1997 to August 2026.
History. Here's a peek at a few simple statistics we computed on the entire sample: the diffusion index hit a minimum of -12.0 in October 2022; it peaked at 50.0 in February 2017; it averaged 22.5.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-06-30 | 22.0 |
| 2026-07-31 | 15.0 |
| 2026-08-31 | 10.0 |
Tip. We organize time series into worksheets and datasets to make our users' life easier. By scrolling down, you will discover how we structured further material linked to the statistics published here.
Not for investment purposes. Time series and other data made available on this web site are not not supposed to be used for investment purposes or as a basis for making financial decisions. Users should ask for professional advice and perform their own independent due diligence before taking any financial risk.
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) |
Series in the same data set
Discover the other time series included in this data set.