Business Leaders Survey: Business activity: Current (increase vs decrease; diffusion index; percentage points; seasonally unadjusted) - United States - NY FED - Monthly
This series is part of the dataset: Business Leaders Survey (NY FED)
Download Full Dataset (.xlsx)Latest updates. Based on service firms' responses to the Business Leaders Survey carried out by the New York FED, the seasonally unadjusted diffusion index for business activity (share of CEOs seeing a recent increase minus share reporting a decrease) was -20.7 in October 2026, compared to -8.7 in September.
Sample. This monthly time series has a total of 266 data points. The series covers the span of time extending from September 2004 to October 2026.
History. Here's a glimpse of some simple statistics calculated on the full sample: the diffusion index had an average value of 1.6; it hit a minimum of -76.5 in April 2020; it peaked at 43.2 in June 2021.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-08-31 | 0.500000 |
| 2026-09-30 | -8.70000 |
| 2026-10-31 | -20.7000 |
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Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: In the past month did business activity at this company increase or decrease? |
| 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 New York |
| Source type | Central bank |
| Data licence | Free use subject to conditions |
| 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.
Current conditions SA
| Series Name | Observations | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business Leaders Survey: Wages: Current (increase vs decrease; diffusion index; percentage points; seasonally adjusted) - United States - NY FED - Monthly | 266 | 2004-09-30 | 2026-10-31 |
Future conditions SA
| Series Name | Observations | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business Leaders Survey: Wages: Future (increase vs decrease; diffusion index; percentage points; seasonally adjusted) - United States - NY FED - Monthly | 266 | 2004-09-30 | 2026-10-31 |