Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity: Vendor lead times: Current (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 vendor lead times (share of CEOs seeing a recent increase minus share reporting a decrease) stood at 16.0 in April 2026, versus 13.0 in March.
Sample. In this monthly series, there are a total of 360 records. The period covered by the series extends from January 1996 to April 2026.
History. Here's a peek at some statistics calculated on the full sample: the diffusion index reached a trough of -32.0 in December 2022; it recorded its highest level of 73.0 in May 2021; it had a mean of 6.3.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-02-28 | -3.0 |
| 2026-03-31 | 13.0 |
| 2026-04-30 | 16.0 |
Suggestion. We organize time series into worksheets and datasets to simplify research. By moving down the page, you will discover how we structured further material linked to the statistics published here.
Not for investment purposes. Financial data disseminated on FetchSeries are not meant for investment purposes or as a basis for financial-decision making. Users should obtain professional advice and perform their own independent due diligence before making any financial commitments.
Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Did vendor lead times 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 | 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.