Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity: Shipments: 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 shipments (share of CEOs seeing a future increase minus share forecasting a decrease) was 29.0 in July 2026, compared to 36.0 in June.
Sample. There are 395 data points in the monthly time series displayed in the graph above. The series covers the time span going from January 1993 to July 2026.
History. Here’s a quick look at a few simple statistics computed on the entire sample: the diffusion index recorded a maximum of 65.0 in March 2018; it reached a minimum of -11.0 in April 2025; it had a mean value of 31.0.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-05-31 | 36.0 |
| 2026-06-30 | 36.0 |
| 2026-07-31 | 29.0 |
Tip. Our metadata often include references to the sources of the time-series data shown on FetchSeries. You can use these references to find more details.
Not for investment purposes. Financial data shared on this web site are not not supposed to be used for investment purposes or other financial decisions. Users should seek professional advice and perform their own independent due diligence before making any financial commitments.
Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Will shipments 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.