Nonmanufacturing Business Outlook Survey: Regional 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: Nonmanufacturing Business Outlook Survey (Philly FED)
Download Full Dataset (.xlsx)Latest updates. According to recent survey data about nonmanufacturing firms in the Third Federal Reserve District, the seasonally unadjusted diffusion index for regional general business activity (share of CEOs seeing a recent increase minus share reporting a decrease) stood at -21.6 in September 2026, compared to -17.6 in the previous month.
Sample. In the monthly series shown in the figure, there are 187 records in total. The series covers the period stretching from March 2011 to September 2026.
History. Here are some statistics computed on the whole sample: the diffusion index reached its highest level of 70.4 in March 2012; it reached its lowest level of -92.8 in April 2020; it was equal on average to 11.4.
Latest values
| Date | Value - Percentage points |
|---|---|
| 2026-07-31 | 10.3000 |
| 2026-08-31 | -17.6000 |
| 2026-09-30 | -21.6000 |
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Series Metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Description | Diffusion index for the question: Did regional 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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