Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey: Unfilled orders: 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 unfilled orders (share of CEOs seeing a recent increase minus share reporting a decrease) was 20.4 in September 2026, versus 14.4 in the previous month.
Sample. This monthly time series has 701 observations overall. The series covers the span of time extending from May 1968 to September 2026.
History. Here's a peek at some simple statistics calculated on the full sample: the diffusion index hit a minimum of -60.9 in December 1974; it reached a maximum of 45.1 in March 1973; it averaged -4.1.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-07-31 | 18.1000 |
| 2026-08-31 | 14.4000 |
| 2026-09-30 | 20.4000 |
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Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Did unfilled orders 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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