Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey: Average employee workweek: Current (increase vs decrease; diffusion index; percentage points; seasonally adjusted) - United States - Philly FED - Monthly
This series is part of the dataset: Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey (Philly FED)
Download Full Dataset (.xlsx)Latest updates. According to survey data about manufacturers based in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, the seasonally adjusted diffusion index for the average employee workweek (share of CEOs seeing a recent increase minus share reporting a decrease) was -6.5 in June 2026, compared to 1.2 in May.
Sample. In this monthly time series, there are 698 data points in total. The time span covered by the series stretches from May 1968 to June 2026.
History. Here are a few summary statistics computed on the whole sample: the diffusion index recorded its maximum of 36.5 in March 2021; it reached its minimum of -53.5 in April 2020; it had an average value of 0.2.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-04-30 | 7.7 |
| 2026-05-31 | 1.2 |
| 2026-06-30 | -6.5 |
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Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Did the average employee workweek 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 | Yes |
| Rescaling | None |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Unit | Percentage points |
| Source | Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia |
| 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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