Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity: Capital expenditures: Current (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 firms' responses to the Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity carried out by the Richmond FED, the seasonally unadjusted diffusion index for capital expenditures (share of CEOs seeing a recent increase minus share reporting a decrease) was -7.0 in February 2026, compared to -16.0 in January.
Sample. There are 184 data points overall in the monthly time series displayed in the graph above. The span of time covered by the series stretches from February 2010 to February 2026.
History. Take a look at a few summary statistics we calculated on the full sample: the diffusion index recorded a minimum of -29.0 in May 2020; it attained a maximum of 31.0 in April 2018; it had a mean value of 8.8.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2025-12-31 | -1.0 |
| 2026-01-31 | -16.0 |
| 2026-02-28 | -7.0 |
Heads-up. We group time series into data sets and worksheets to make your life easier. By moving down the page, you will discover how we structured further material related to the statistics published here.
Not for investment purposes. Data series and other information distributed on this web site are not not supposed to be used for investment purposes or as a basis for financial-decision making. Users should seek professional advice and perform their own independent due diligence before taking any financial risk.
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 | 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.