Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey: Average employee workweek: Future (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. According to survey data about manufacturers based in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, the seasonally unadjusted diffusion index for the average employee workweek (share of CEOs seeing a future increase minus share forecasting a decrease) was 28.0 in September 2026, compared to 16.7 in August.
Sample. There are 701 data points overall in the monthly time series shown in the plot above. The series covers the time period stretching from May 1968 to September 2026.
History. Here's a snapshot of some simple statistics computed on the whole sample: the diffusion index averaged 8.4; it attained a maximum of 41.0 in March 1977; it reached its minimum of -30.6 in October 1990.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-07-31 | 10.3000 |
| 2026-08-31 | 16.7000 |
| 2026-09-30 | 28.0000 |
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Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Will the average employee workweek 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 | 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) |
Series in the same data set
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