Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey: General business activity: 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. According to survey data about manufacturers based in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, the seasonally unadjusted diffusion index for general business activity (share of CEOs seeing a recent increase minus share reporting a decrease) was 44.0 in September 2026, versus 45.8 in August.
Sample. There are 701 data points in the monthly series displayed in the figure above. The series covers the span of time extending from May 1968 to September 2026.
History. Here's a snapshot of some statistics calculated on the full sample: the diffusion index was equal on average to 9.0; it hit a trough of -76.0 in December 1974; it attained a maximum of 67.0 in March 1973.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-07-31 | 37.9000 |
| 2026-08-31 | 45.8000 |
| 2026-09-30 | 44.0000 |
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Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Did general business activity 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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