Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity: Number of employees: 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 based in the Fifth District, the seasonally unadjusted diffusion index for the number of employees (share of CEOs seeing a future increase minus share forecasting a decrease) was 1.0 in November 2025, versus 3.0 in the previous month.
Sample. This monthly series has 387 data points overall. The time range covered by the series stretches from January 1993 to November 2025.
History. Here's a peek at some descriptive statistics computed on the full sample: the diffusion index averaged 10.6; it recorded a bottom of -21.0 in February 2009; it peaked at 52.0 in July 2021.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2025-09-30 | 1.0 |
| 2025-10-31 | 3.0 |
| 2025-11-30 | 1.0 |
Suggestion. For our users' convenience, we organize indicators into data sets and worksheets. If you look below, you will discover how we arranged further information linked to the statistics published here.
Not for investment purposes. Content hosted on this web site is not not supposed to be used for investment purposes or as a basis for financial-decision making. Users should seek professional advice and perform independent analysis before making any financial commitments.
Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Will the number of employees 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.