Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity: Wages: Future (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 recent survey data about manufacturing firms in the Fifth District, the seasonally adjusted diffusion index for wages (share of CEOs seeing a future increase minus share reporting a decrease) was 48.0 in September 2025, compared to 47.0 in the previous month.
Sample. There are 259 observations overall in the monthly series displayed in the figure above. The period covered by the series is from January 1997 to September 2025.
History. Check out some statistics computed on the whole sample: the diffusion index had an average value of 37.3; it hit a peak of 73.0 in February 2021; it reached a minimum of 0.0 in April 2020.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2025-07-31 | 46.0 |
| 2025-08-31 | 47.0 |
| 2025-09-30 | 48.0 |
Hint. We organize time series into worksheets and datasets to simplify complex analyses. If you navigate further down, you will discover how we arranged further material linked to the statistics published here.
Not for investment purposes. Data series and other information available on FetchSeries are not suitable for investment purposes or as a basis for financial-decision making. Users should ask for professional advice and do independent analysis before pledging money to any investment.
Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Will wages increase or decrease over the next six months? |
| Country | United States |
| Economic concept | Business survey response |
| Data type | Leading 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.