Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey: Unfilled orders: Current (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 firms' responses to the Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey carried out by the Philadelphia FED, the seasonally unadjusted diffusion index for unfilled orders (share of CEOs seeing a recent increase minus share reporting a decrease) was 3.4 in March 2026, versus -11.1 in February 2026.
Sample. There are 695 data points overall in the monthly time series displayed in the plot above. The time span covered by the series stretches from May 1968 to March 2026.
History. Here are a few descriptive statistics computed on the whole sample: the diffusion index had a mean of -4.2; it recorded a bottom of -74.0 in December 1974; it reached its maximum of 54.0 in March 1973.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-01-31 | 3.6 |
| 2026-02-28 | -11.1 |
| 2026-03-31 | 3.4 |
Tip. We organize series into worksheets and datasets for our users' convenience. When you navigate further down, you will discover how we structured further information related to the statistics published here.
Not for investment purposes. Data and any other information made available on this web site are not not supposed to be used for investment purposes or any other financial decision. Users should consult professional advice and perform independent analysis before pledging money to any investment.
Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Did unfilled orders 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 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.