Nonmanufacturing Business Outlook Survey: Physical plant expenditures: Current (increase vs decrease; diffusion index; percentage points; seasonally unadjusted) - United States - Philly FED - Monthly
This series is part of the dataset: Nonmanufacturing Business Outlook Survey (Philly FED)
Download Full Dataset (.xlsx)Latest updates. Based on firms' responses to the Nonmanufacturing Business Outlook Survey carried out by the Philadelphia FED, the seasonally unadjusted diffusion index for physical plant expenditures (share of CEOs seeing a recent increase minus share reporting a decrease) stood at 21.6 in September 2026, compared to 2.9 in the previous month.
Sample. There are 187 observations overall in the monthly series shown in the graph above. The time period covered by the series is from March 2011 to September 2026.
History. Here’s a quick look at some simple statistics calculated on the entire sample: the diffusion index recorded its maximum of 39.1 in May 2011; it reached its minimum of -40.6 in April 2020; it had a mean value of 12.6.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-07-31 | 15.4000 |
| 2026-08-31 | 2.90000 |
| 2026-09-30 | 21.6000 |
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Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Did capital expenditures on physical plant 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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