Business Leaders Survey: Capital spending: Future (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. According to recent survey data about service firms in the Second Federal Reserve District, the seasonally unadjusted diffusion index for capital spending (share of CEOs seeing a future increase minus share forecasting a decrease) stood at -2.9 in October 2026, versus 1.1 in September 2026.
Sample. There are 266 observations in the monthly time series shown in the graph above. The series covers the time period going from September 2004 to October 2026.
History. Here's a snapshot of some statistics calculated on the entire sample: the diffusion index achieved a maximum of 49.2 in September 2004; it registered a minimum of -41.3 in April 2020; it was equal on average to 14.5.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-08-31 | 4.40000 |
| 2026-09-30 | 1.10000 |
| 2026-10-31 | -2.90000 |
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Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Over the next six months do you expect capital investment spending to increase or decrease? |
| 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 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 |