Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey: Average employee workweek: Current (increase vs decrease; diffusion index; percentage points; seasonally unadjusted) - United States - Philly FED - Monthly
This series is part of the dataset: Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey (Philly FED)
Download Full Dataset (.xlsx)Latest updates. Based on firms' responses to the Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey carried out by the Philadelphia FED, the seasonally unadjusted diffusion index for the average employee workweek (share of CEOs seeing a recent increase minus share reporting a decrease) stood at 20.0 in September 2026, compared to 29.2 in August.
Sample. The monthly series shown in the plot has 701 records. The series covers the period going from May 1968 to September 2026.
History. Here’s a quick look at some statistics computed on the full sample: the diffusion index recorded a maximum of 42.9 in March 2021; it recorded a bottom of -49.2 in April 2020; it had an average value of 0.3.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-07-31 | 13.8000 |
| 2026-08-31 | 29.2000 |
| 2026-09-30 | 20.0000 |
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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 | No |
| 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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