Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity: Shipments: Current (increase vs decrease; diffusion index; percentage points; seasonally adjusted) - 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. Based on a sample of manufacturing firms surveyd by the FED, the seasonally adjusted diffusion index for shipments (share of CEOs seeing a recent increase minus share reporting a decrease) was -5.0 in September 2026, compared to 11.0 in August.
Sample. In the monthly series presented in the graph, there are 395 observations. The series covers the time period stretching from November 1993 to September 2026.
History. Have a look at some simple statistics calculated on the full sample: the diffusion index had an average value of 2.7; it reached a trough of -70.0 in April 2020; it reached its highest level of 37.0 in March 2004.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-07-31 | 8.00000 |
| 2026-08-31 | 11.0000 |
| 2026-09-30 | -5.00000 |
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Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Did shipments 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 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) |
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