Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey: Inventories: 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. Based on firms' responses to the Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey carried out by the Philadelphia FED, the seasonally adjusted diffusion index for inventories (share of CEOs seeing a recent increase minus share reporting a decrease) stood at -12.5 in September 2026, compared to -3.7 in August 2026.
Sample. There are 701 data points overall in the monthly series displayed in the chart above. The series covers the time period extending from May 1968 to September 2026.
History. Here's a snapshot of some summary statistics calculated on the full sample: the diffusion index averaged -5.1; it reached its lowest level of -51.0 in March 2009; it hit a maximum of 27.9 in March 1973.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-07-31 | 0.300000 |
| 2026-08-31 | -3.70000 |
| 2026-09-30 | -12.5000 |
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Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Did inventories 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) |
Series in the same data set
Discover the other time series included in this data set.