Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity: Unfilled orders: 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 unfilled orders (share of CEOs seeing a future increase minus share forecasting a decrease) was 5.0 in July 2026, compared to 12.0 in June 2026.
Sample. This monthly series has a total of 353 observations. The series covers the time span stretching from January 1997 to July 2026.
History. Here’s a quick look at some summary statistics we calculated on the full sample: the diffusion index averaged 11.0; it recorded a bottom of -30.0 in October 2022; it recorded its highest level of 40.0 in February 2002.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-05-31 | 9.0 |
| 2026-06-30 | 12.0 |
| 2026-07-31 | 5.0 |
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Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Will unfilled orders 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) |
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