Fifth District Survey of Non-Manufacturing Activity: Business services expenditures: 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 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 unadjusted diffusion index for business services expenditures (share of CEOs seeing a recent increase minus share reporting a decrease) stood at -9.0 in September 2026, versus -1.0 in August 2026.
Sample. There are 190 observations overall in the monthly series displayed in the plot above. The series covers the span of time going from December 2010 to September 2026.
History. Here's a snapshot of some statistics we computed on the whole sample: the diffusion index averaged 3.9; it recorded a maximum of 23.0 in April 2017; it reached its minimum of -44.0 in April 2020.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-07-31 | -3.00000 |
| 2026-08-31 | -1.00000 |
| 2026-09-30 | -9.00000 |
Tip. A plus of using our web site is that we publish accurate metadata. Check them below to learn more about the characteristics of the time series that you are exploring.
Not for investment purposes. Data and analyses distributed on FetchSeries are not meant for investment purposes or other financial decisions. Users should obtain expert advice and perform independent analysis before pledging money to any investment.
Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Did business services expenditures 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) |
| Other information | Not available |
Series in the same data set
Discover the other time series included in this data set.