Federal Reserve Economic Data

Table Data - Chicago Fed Survey of Economic Conditions: Activity Index in Federal Reserve District 7: Chicago

Title Chicago Fed Survey of Economic Conditions: Activity Index in Federal Reserve District 7: Chicago
Series ID CFSBCACTIVITY
Source Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
Release Chicago Fed Survey of Economic Conditions
Seasonal Adjustment Not Seasonally Adjusted
Frequency Monthly
Units Index
Date Range 2013-02-01 to 2024-12-01
Last Updated 2024-12-23 9:04 AM CST
Notes What is the Survey of Economic Conditions?
Contacts located in the Seventh Federal Reserve District are asked to rate various aspects of economic conditions along a seven-point scale ranging from "large increase" to "large decrease." A series of diffusion indexes summarizing the distribution of responses is then calculated.

How are the indexes constructed?
Respondents' answers on the seven-point scale are assigned a numeric value ranging from +3 to –3. Each diffusion index is calculated as the difference between the number of respondents with answers above their respective average responses and the number of respondents with answers below their respective average responses, divided by the total number of respondents. The index is then multiplied by 100 so that it ranges from +100 to −100 and will be +100 if every respondent provides an above-average answer and –100 if every respondent provides a below-average answer. Respondents with no prior history of responses are excluded from the calculation.

What do the numbers mean?
Respondents' respective average answers to a question can be interpreted as representing their historical trends, or long-run averages. Thus, zero index values indicate, on balance, average growth (or a neutral outlook) for activity, hiring, capital spending, and cost pressures. Positive index values indicate above-average growth (or an optimistic outlook) on balance, and negative values indicate below-average growth (or a pessimistic outlook) on balance.

Beginning with the May 12, 2020 release, the CFSEC moved to a monthly release schedule. This release, with data for April 2020, now contains estimated monthly historical values for the CFSEC indexes, as will all future releases. For additional information on how the survey and indexes changed, see the CFSEC FAQs available here.

Prior to April 2022, the Chicago Fed Survey of Economic Conditions was named the Chicago Fed Survey of Business Conditions (CFSBC). The name change was made to better represent the survey’s aim and base of respondents. The goal of the survey is to assess the state of the economy in the Seventh Federal Reserve District. Moreover, since the beginning of the survey, it was been filled out by both business and nonbusiness contacts.
DATE VALUE
2013-02-01 13.114753723144531000
2013-03-01 6.757637500762939500
2013-04-01 -2.083333253860473600
2013-05-01 -12.500000000000000000
2013-06-01 3.553117513656616000
2013-07-01 17.237123489379883000
2013-08-01 29.464286804199220000
2013-09-01 2.514098167419433600
2013-10-01 -12.478743553161621000
2013-11-01 -16.513761520385742000
2013-12-01 -1.048264980316162000
2014-01-01 -4.861054420471191000
2014-02-01 -29.787233352661133000
2014-03-01 -3.151470184326172000
2014-04-01 24.003423690795900000
2014-05-01 47.872341156005860000
2014-06-01 39.631206512451170000
2014-07-01 42.924255371093750000
2014-08-01 57.971015930175780000
2014-09-01 50.557083129882810000
2014-10-01 44.664840698242190000
2014-11-01 39.901477813720700000
2014-12-01 34.019439697265625000
2015-01-01 27.082923889160156000
2015-02-01 19.230770111083984000
2015-03-01 16.156642913818360000
2015-04-01 21.254135131835938000
2015-05-01 34.962406158447266000
2015-06-01 21.998611450195312000
2015-07-01 15.389308929443360000
2015-08-01 14.693878173828125000
2015-09-01 10.737773895263672000
2015-10-01 6.332955837249756000
2015-11-01 1.185770750045776400
2015-12-01 4.560544490814209000
2016-01-01 3.667220354080200000
2016-02-01 -1.898734092712402300
2016-03-01 13.300797462463379000
2016-04-01 15.407197952270508000
2016-05-01 2.848101139068603500
2016-06-01 -2.396500110626220700
2016-07-01 -4.306761264801025000
2016-08-01 -3.010033607482910000
2016-09-01 5.292829990386963000
2016-10-01 3.329764604568481400
2016-11-01 -9.030100822448730000
2016-12-01 -5.821071624755859000
2017-01-01 0.417011797428131100
2017-02-01 9.771986961364746000
2017-03-01 23.985193252563477000
2017-04-01 25.059167861938477000
2017-05-01 10.963455200195312000
2017-06-01 10.314169883728027000
2017-07-01 7.798618793487549000
2017-08-01 3.249097347259521500
2017-09-01 7.848910808563232000
2017-10-01 9.895012855529785000
2017-11-01 9.523809432983398000
2017-12-01 29.891790390014650000
2018-01-01 39.977771759033200000
2018-02-01 38.372093200683594000
2018-03-01 37.162044525146484000
2018-04-01 35.658264160156250000
2018-05-01 34.033611297607420000
2018-06-01 24.987728118896484000
2018-07-01 21.583997726440430000
2018-08-01 23.595504760742188000
2018-09-01 14.547538757324219000
2018-10-01 10.929439544677734000
2018-11-01 12.500000000000000000
2018-12-01 10.197891235351562000
2019-01-01 9.178287506103516000
2019-02-01 9.608541488647461000
2019-03-01 5.539469718933105500
2019-04-01 1.781846284866333000
2019-05-01 -1.083032488822937000
2019-06-01 -9.875846862792969000
2019-07-01 -13.493484497070312000
2019-08-01 -12.177121162414550000
2019-09-01 -4.703314781188965000
2019-10-01 -0.026188626885414124
2019-11-01 2.166064977645874000
2019-12-01 0.753413915634155300
2020-01-01 4.567755222320557000
2020-02-01 14.007782936096191000
2020-03-01 -23.813781738281250000
2020-04-01 -65.217391967773440000
2020-05-01 -55.165966033935550000
2020-06-01 -21.430664062500000000
2020-07-01 3.073483943939209000
2020-08-01 10.745065689086914000
2020-09-01 13.467940330505371000
2020-10-01 0.807451367378234900
2020-11-01 -7.664935588836670000
2020-12-01 -13.973768234252930000
2021-01-01 -9.051395416259766000
2021-02-01 4.475491046905518000
2021-03-01 18.873617172241210000
2021-04-01 39.572761535644530000
2021-05-01 41.534267425537110000
2021-06-01 38.111152648925780000
2021-07-01 30.319023132324220000
2021-08-01 16.278682708740234000
2021-09-01 13.181395530700684000
2021-10-01 19.125650405883790000
2021-11-01 6.638560771942139000
2021-12-01 -4.709923267364502000
2022-01-01 -1.165954232215881300
2022-02-01 10.360831260681152000
2022-03-01 19.209314346313477000
2022-04-01 1.229272365570068400
2022-05-01 -4.963412761688232000
2022-06-01 -11.646817207336426000
2022-07-01 -34.138526916503906000
2022-08-01 -29.027164459228516000
2022-09-01 -26.405376434326172000
2022-10-01 -28.048599243164062000
2022-11-01 -25.064373016357422000
2022-12-01 -33.461540222167970000
2023-01-01 -16.187049865722656000
2023-02-01 -6.143344879150391000
2023-03-01 -6.143344879150391000
2023-04-01 -35.664333343505860000
2023-05-01 -21.126760482788086000
2023-06-01 -44.055942535400390000
2023-07-01 -27.464790344238280000
2023-08-01 -21.126760482788086000
2023-09-01 -24.555160522460938000
2023-10-01 -38.490566253662110000
2023-11-01 -33.333332061767580000
2023-12-01 -18.292682647705078000
2024-01-01 8.203125000000000000
2024-02-01 -10.424710273742676000
2024-03-01 1.219512224197387700
2024-04-01 -5.286343574523926000
2024-05-01 -2.690582752227783000
2024-06-01 -19.178081512451172000
2024-07-01 -9.051723480224610000
2024-08-01 -11.587983131408691000
2024-09-01 -19.512195587158203000
2024-10-01 -21.794872283935547000
2024-11-01 -10.810811042785645000
2024-12-01 0.000000000000000000

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