Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity: Wages: 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. Based on firms' responses to the Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity carried out by the Richmond FED, the seasonally unadjusted diffusion index for wages (share of CEOs seeing a recent increase minus share reporting a decrease) was 18.0 in January 2026, versus 24.0 in December 2025.
Sample. This monthly series has 347 data points. The series covers the period extending from January 1997 to January 2026.
History. Here's a peek at some simple statistics calculated on the whole sample: the diffusion index had an average value of 14.4; it recorded its highest level of 49.0 in August 2021; it reached a trough of -14.0 in February 2009.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2025-11-30 | 23.0 |
| 2025-12-31 | 24.0 |
| 2026-01-31 | 18.0 |
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Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Did wages 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) |
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