Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity: Inventories of raw materials: 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. According to survey data about manufacturers collected by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, the seasonally unadjusted diffusion index for inventories of raw materials (share of CEOs seeing a future increase minus share forecasting a decrease) stood at -2.0 in October 2026, compared to 0.0 in the previous month.
Sample. There are 354 data points overall in the monthly series presented in the plot above. The series covers the time period stretching from May 1997 to October 2026.
History. Here's a peek at some descriptive statistics calculated on the whole sample: the diffusion index peaked at 16.0 in November 2025; it reached a trough of -27.0 in June 2000; it averaged -2.2.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-08-31 | 4.00000 |
| 2026-09-30 | 0 |
| 2026-10-31 | -2.00000 |
Nugget of wisdom. For our users' convenience, we categorize indicators into worksheets and datasets. If you look below, you will find how we arranged further material related to the statistics provided here.
Not for investment purposes. Data and any other information hosted on FetchSeries are not suitable for investment purposes or as a basis for making financial decisions. Users should consult expert advice and perform their own independent due diligence before pledging money to any investment.
Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Will raw materials 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.