Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity: Vendor lead times: Future (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 surveyd by the FED, the seasonally adjusted diffusion index for vendor lead times (share of CEOs seeing a future increase minus share forecasting a decrease) was 14.0 in April 2026, versus 10.0 in the previous month.
Sample. This monthly series has a total of 350 data points. The time range covered by the series stretches from January 1997 to April 2026.
History. Take a look at some summary statistics we calculated on the whole sample: the diffusion index had a mean value of 5.4; it reached its minimum of -27.0 in August 2022; it reached its highest level of 41.0 in May 2021.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-02-28 | -1.0 |
| 2026-03-31 | 10.0 |
| 2026-04-30 | 14.0 |
Heads-up. A plus of using our web site is that we provide well-crafted metadata. Check it below to gain insights on the characteristics of the series that you analyze.
Not for investment purposes. Data and analyses hosted on FetchSeries are not meant for investment purposes or other financial decisions. Users should ask for professional advice and perform their own independent due diligence before pledging money to any investment.
Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Will vendor lead times 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 | 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.