Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity: New orders: Current (increase vs decrease; diffusion index; percentage points; seasonally unadjusted) - United States - Richmond FED - Monthly
This series is part of the dataset: Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity (Richmond FED)
Download Full Dataset (.xlsx)Latest updates. According to survey data about manufacturers collected by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, the seasonally unadjusted diffusion index for new orders (share of CEOs seeing a recent increase minus share reporting a decrease) was -9.0 in September 2025, compared to -13.0 in August.
Sample. There are 290 data points in the monthly time series shown in the chart above. The series covers the time period going from January 1993 to September 2025.
History. Here's a snapshot of some statistics we computed on the whole sample: the diffusion index reached its highest level of 45.0 in April 2010; it hit a trough of -56.0 in February 2008; it was equal on average to 2.1.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2025-07-31 | -29.0 |
| 2025-08-31 | -13.0 |
| 2025-09-30 | -9.0 |
Nugget of wisdom. To facilitate exploration, we group series into data sets and worksheets. By scrolling down, you will discover how we arranged further material related to the statistics found here.
Not for investment purposes. Content accessible on this web site is not not supposed to be used for investment purposes or as a basis for financial-decision making. Users should ask for expert advice and perform their own independent due diligence before taking any financial risk.
Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Did new 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 Richmond |
| 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.