Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity: Inventories of finished goods: 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 inventories of finished goods (share of CEOs seeing a future increase minus share forecasting a decrease) was 11.0 in November 2025, versus 4.0 in October.
Sample. There are 345 data points overall in the monthly time series displayed in the plot above. The time period covered by the series stretches from January 1997 to November 2025.
History. Check out some simple statistics computed on the entire sample: the diffusion index attained a maximum of 16.0 in August 2015; it reached its minimum of -44.0 in August 2000; it had a mean of -3.3.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2025-09-30 | 5.0 |
| 2025-10-31 | 4.0 |
| 2025-11-30 | 11.0 |
Tip. One of the advantages of using FetchSeries is that we give you well-crafted metadata. Check it below to gain insights on the attributes of the time series that you use in your research.
Not for investment purposes. Information collected and published on this web site is not not supposed to be used for investment purposes or as a basis for making financial decisions. Users should consult 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 finished goods inventories 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.