Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity: Number of employees: Current (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. Based on a sample of manufacturing firms surveyd by the FED, the seasonally adjusted diffusion index for the number of employees (share of CEOs seeing a recent increase minus share reporting a decrease) stood at -7.0 in November 2025, compared to -10.0 in October 2025.
Sample. There are 387 data points in the monthly series displayed in the figure above. The time range covered by the series stretches from January 1993 to November 2025.
History. Here’s a quick look at a few statistics calculated on the full sample: the diffusion index registered a minimum of -35.0 in February 2009; it reached its highest level of 33.0 in July 2021; it was equal on average to 1.2.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2025-09-30 | -15.0 |
| 2025-10-31 | -10.0 |
| 2025-11-30 | -7.0 |
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Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Did the number of employees 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 | 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) |
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