Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity: Unfilled orders: 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. According to survey data about manufacturers based in the Fifth District, the seasonally adjusted diffusion index for unfilled orders (share of CEOs seeing a recent increase minus share reporting a decrease) was -21.0 in September 2025, compared to -12.0 in August 2025.
Sample. The monthly time series presented in the graph has 290 observations in total. The series covers the span of time stretching from January 1993 to September 2025.
History. Here's a glimpse of a few descriptive statistics calculated on the entire sample: the diffusion index had a mean of -7.3; it reached a maximum of 31.0 in May 2021; it recorded a minimum of -48.0 in April 2020.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2025-07-31 | -30.0 |
| 2025-08-31 | -12.0 |
| 2025-09-30 | -21.0 |
Hint. We group indicators into worksheets and datasets to simplify research. If you navigate further down, you will find how we arranged further material linked to the statistics provided here.
Not for investment purposes. Data published on this web site are not intended for investment purposes or as a basis for making financial decisions. Users should seek professional advice and perform independent analysis before pledging money to any investment.
Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Did unfilled 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 | 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) |
Series in the same data set
Discover the other time series included in this data set.