Empire State Manufacturing Survey: General business activity: Current (increase vs decrease; diffusion index; percentage points; seasonally unadjusted) - United States - NY FED - Monthly
This series is part of the dataset: Empire State Manufacturing Survey (NY FED)
Download Full Dataset (.xlsx)Latest updates. According to survey data about NY-based manufacturers, the seasonally unadjusted diffusion index for general business activity (share of CEOs seeing a recent increase minus share reporting a decrease) was -2.0 in September 2025, compared to 2.8 in August.
Sample. There are 291 data points in the montly series shown in the chart above. The time span covered by the series is from July 2001 to September 2025.
History. Here's a snapshot of some descriptive statistics we calculated on the whole sample: the diffusion index was equal on average to 6.2; it recorded a bottom of -73.5 in April 2020; it peaked at 45.8 in April 2004.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2025-07-31 | 2.8 |
| 2025-08-31 | 2.8 |
| 2025-09-30 | -2.0 |
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Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Did 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 | No |
| Rescaling | None |
| Frequency | Montly |
| 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) |
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