Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey: Number of employees: Future (increase vs decrease; diffusion index; percentage points; seasonally unadjusted) - United States - Philly FED - Monthly
This series is part of the dataset: Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey (Philly FED)
Download Full Dataset (.xlsx)Latest updates. Based on a sample of manufacturing firms surveyd by the FED, the seasonally unadjusted diffusion index for the number of employees (share of CEOs seeing a future increase minus share forecasting a decrease) was 29.2 in June 2026, compared to 34.6 in May.
Sample. In this monthly series, there are 698 records. The series covers the time range stretching from May 1968 to June 2026.
History. Take a look at some simple statistics computed on the full sample: the diffusion index was equal on average to 15.3; it recorded a maximum of 61.2 in December 2021; it reached its lowest level of -33.4 in September 1990.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-04-30 | 33.3 |
| 2026-05-31 | 34.6 |
| 2026-06-30 | 29.2 |
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Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Will the number of employees 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 | No |
| 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) |
Series in the same data set
Discover the other time series included in this data set.