Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey: Average employee workweek: Current (increase vs decrease; diffusion index; percentage points; seasonally adjusted) - United States - Philly FED - Monthly
This series is part of the dataset: Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey (Philly FED)
Download Full Dataset (.xlsx)Latest updates. According to survey data about manufacturers based in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, the seasonally adjusted diffusion index for the average employee workweek (share of CEOs seeing a recent increase minus share reporting a decrease) was 18.0 in September 2026, versus 26.5 in the previous month.
Sample. This monthly series has 701 records overall. The series covers the span of time stretching from May 1968 to September 2026.
History. Take a look at some summary statistics computed on the entire sample: the diffusion index had a mean value of 0.3; it hit a maximum of 36.5 in March 2021; it reached a minimum of -53.5 in April 2020.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-07-31 | 14.0000 |
| 2026-08-31 | 26.5000 |
| 2026-09-30 | 18.0000 |
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Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Did the average employee workweek 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 Philadelphia |
| 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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