Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity: Capital expenditures: 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 capital expenditures (share of CEOs seeing a recent increase minus share reporting a decrease) was -5.0 in August 2026, compared to 0.0 in July.
Sample. This monthly series has 190 records in total. The series covers the time range stretching from February 2010 to August 2026.
History. Here are some simple statistics computed on the full sample: the diffusion index recorded a maximum of 30.0 in September 2014; it hit a minimum of -30.0 in May 2020; it averaged 8.4.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-06-30 | -8.0 |
| 2026-07-31 | 0.0 |
| 2026-08-31 | -5.0 |
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Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Did capital expenditures 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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