Fifth District Survey of Non-Manufacturing Activity: Average wages: 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 Non-Manufacturing Activity (Richmond FED)
Download Full Dataset (.xlsx)Latest updates. Based on firms' responses to the Fifth District Survey of Non-Manufacturing Activity carried out by the Richmond FED, the seasonally adjusted diffusion index for average wages (share of CEOs seeing a future increase minus share forecasting a decrease) was 50.0 in September 2026, compared to 53.0 in August 2026.
Sample. There are 190 records in the monthly time series shown in the chart above. The series covers the period going from December 2010 to September 2026.
History. Check out some summary statistics calculated on the whole sample: the diffusion index had a mean value of 39.9; it recorded its maximum of 67.0 in March 2022; it reached its minimum of 9.0 in May 2020.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-07-31 | 47.0000 |
| 2026-08-31 | 53.0000 |
| 2026-09-30 | 50.0000 |
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Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Will average wages 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) |
| Other information | Not available |
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