Nonmanufacturing Business Outlook Survey: Firm-level general business activity: Current (increase vs decrease; diffusion index; percentage points; seasonally adjusted) - United States - Philly FED - Monthly
This series is part of the dataset: Nonmanufacturing Business Outlook Survey (Philly FED)
Download Full Dataset (.xlsx)Latest updates. Based on firms' responses to the Nonmanufacturing Business Outlook Survey carried out by the Philadelphia FED, the seasonally adjusted diffusion index for firm-level general business activity (share of CEOs seeing a recent increase minus share reporting a decrease) was 0.3 in September 2026, compared to -8.2 in August 2026.
Sample. In the monthly time series shown in the graph, there are a total of 187 records. The series covers the time period going from March 2011 to September 2026.
History. Here are some descriptive statistics calculated on the whole sample: the diffusion index recorded its maximum of 56.8 in March 2012; it reached its minimum of -80.4 in April 2020; it had an average value of 19.2.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-07-31 | 17.5000 |
| 2026-08-31 | -8.20000 |
| 2026-09-30 | 0.300000 |
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Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Did firm-level general business activity 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) |
Series in the same data set
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