Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity: Capital expenditures: Future (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. According to survey data about manufacturers based in the Fifth District, the seasonally adjusted diffusion index for capital expenditures (share of CEOs seeing a future increase minus share forecasting a decrease) was -11.0 in September 2025, compared to -15.0 in the previous month.
Sample. There are 259 observations in the monthly series displayed in the graph above. The series covers the time span extending from January 1997 to September 2025.
History. Have a look at some descriptive statistics computed on the whole sample: the diffusion index averaged 14.5; it reached its minimum of -31.0 in January 2008; it recorded its highest level of 42.0 in May 2021.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2025-07-31 | -19.0 |
| 2025-08-31 | -15.0 |
| 2025-09-30 | -11.0 |
Nugget of wisdom. One of the pros of our web site is that we provide accurate metadata. Check it below to better understand the properties of the series that you use in your work.
Not for investment purposes. Content accessible on this web site is not not supposed to be used for investment purposes or any other financial decision. Users should ask for professional advice and do independent analysis before making any financial commitments.
Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Will capital expenditures 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 | 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) |