Fifth District Survey of Non-Manufacturing Activity: Average wages: 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 Non-Manufacturing Activity (Richmond FED)
Download Full Dataset (.xlsx)Latest updates. Based on firms' responses to the Fifth District Survey of Non-Manufacturing Activity carried out by the Richmond FED, the seasonally adjusted diffusion index for average wages (share of CEOs seeing a recent increase minus share reporting a decrease) stood at 20.0 in September 2026, compared to 22.0 in August 2026.
Sample. In this monthly series, there are a total of 395 observations. The series covers the span of time extending from November 1993 to September 2026.
History. Here are some simple statistics computed on the entire sample: the diffusion index attained a maximum of 45.0 in September 2021; it reached its minimum of -16.0 in April 2020; it averaged 18.9.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-07-31 | 20.0000 |
| 2026-08-31 | 22.0000 |
| 2026-09-30 | 20.0000 |
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Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Did average wages 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) |
| Other information | Not available |
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