Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity: Unfilled orders: 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 surveyed by the Fed, the seasonally adjusted diffusion index for unfilled orders (share of CEOs seeing a recent increase minus share reporting a decrease) was -21.0 in October 2026, versus -10.0 in the previous month.
Sample. In this monthly time series, there are a total of 396 data points. The series covers the period extending from November 1993 to October 2026.
History. Here are a few statistics we computed on the whole sample: the diffusion index hit a peak of 31.0 in May 2021; it recorded a minimum of -50.0 in February 2009; it was equal on average to -7.3.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-08-31 | -7.00000 |
| 2026-09-30 | -10.0000 |
| 2026-10-31 | -21.0000 |
Nugget of wisdom. Our metadata often comprise links to the original sources of the data we provide. You can use these links to search for additional information needed in your research.
Not for investment purposes. Data and analyses hosted on this web site are not meant for investment purposes or any other financial decision. Users should seek professional advice and perform independent analysis before taking any financial risk.
Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Did unfilled orders 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) |
Series in the same data set
Discover the other time series included in this data set.