Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity: Capital expenditures: 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 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 future increase minus share forecasting a decrease) was 2.0 in April 2026, compared to 3.0 in March.
Sample. The monthly time series presented in the plot has 350 records. The span of time covered by the series is from January 1997 to April 2026.
History. Here’s a quick look at some descriptive statistics we computed on the full sample: the diffusion index registered a minimum of -34.0 in November 2008; it peaked at 45.0 in May 2021; it had an average value of 14.4.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-02-28 | 1.0 |
| 2026-03-31 | 3.0 |
| 2026-04-30 | 2.0 |
Suggestion. A plus of using our web site is that we give you rich metadata. Find it below to better understand the properties of the indicators that you use in your research.
Not for investment purposes. Data released on FetchSeries are not meant for investment purposes or any other financial decision. Users should ask for expert advice and do independent analysis before taking any financial risk.
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 | 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.