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 2025-03-01
Last Updated 2025-03-24 9:04 AM CDT
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 45.146743774414060000
2014-11-01 41.379310607910156000
2014-12-01 35.492546081542970000
2015-01-01 28.492031097412110000
2015-02-01 20.512821197509766000
2015-03-01 17.386480331420900000
2015-04-01 22.430074691772460000
2015-05-01 36.090225219726560000
2015-06-01 23.996812820434570000
2015-07-01 17.019742965698242000
2015-08-01 14.693878173828125000
2015-09-01 14.135654449462890000
2015-10-01 9.730836868286133000
2015-11-01 1.185770750045776400
2015-12-01 4.560544490814209000
2016-01-01 3.976796627044677700
2016-02-01 -0.949367046356201200
2016-03-01 15.385338783264160000
2016-04-01 17.214427947998047000
2016-05-01 2.848101139068603500
2016-06-01 -2.396500110626220700
2016-07-01 -4.306761264801025000
2016-08-01 -3.010033607482910000
2016-09-01 7.384284496307373000
2016-10-01 5.421219348907471000
2016-11-01 -9.030100822448730000
2016-12-01 -5.821071624755859000
2017-01-01 0.735663533210754400
2017-02-01 10.749185562133789000
2017-03-01 24.340538024902344000
2017-04-01 25.059167861938477000
2017-05-01 10.963455200195312000
2017-06-01 10.988082885742188000
2017-07-01 8.472531318664550000
2017-08-01 3.249097347259521500
2017-09-01 8.603290557861328000
2017-10-01 10.649393081665039000
2017-11-01 9.523809432983398000
2017-12-01 29.891790390014650000
2018-01-01 39.598602294921875000
2018-02-01 37.209300994873050000
2018-03-01 36.739212036132810000
2018-04-01 36.498600006103516000
2018-05-01 36.554618835449220000
2018-06-01 25.809795379638672000
2018-07-01 21.583997726440430000
2018-08-01 23.595504760742188000
2018-09-01 15.232874870300293000
2018-10-01 11.614774703979492000
2018-11-01 12.500000000000000000
2018-12-01 10.847897529602050000
2019-01-01 9.501825332641602000
2019-02-01 8.540925025939941000
2019-03-01 5.151245594024658000
2019-04-01 1.781846284866333000
2019-05-01 -1.083032488822937000
2019-06-01 -9.875846862792969000
2019-07-01 -13.854466438293457000
2019-08-01 -13.284132003784180000
2019-09-01 -5.064296245574951000
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 10.366054534912110000
2020-09-01 13.884921073913574000
2020-10-01 1.642161250114441000
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 42.005569458007810000
2021-06-01 39.578559875488280000
2021-07-01 31.331041336059570000
2021-08-01 16.278682708740234000
2021-09-01 13.181395530700684000
2021-10-01 19.596952438354492000
2021-11-01 8.266258239746094000
2021-12-01 -3.532442092895508000
2022-01-01 -1.748931169509887700
2022-02-01 10.894744873046875000
2022-03-01 21.281312942504883000
2022-04-01 2.795602321624756000
2022-05-01 -3.941071033477783000
2022-06-01 -11.138342857360840000
2022-07-01 -34.138526916503906000
2022-08-01 -27.997652053833008000
2022-09-01 -25.341545104980470000
2022-10-01 -26.032470703125000000
2022-11-01 -22.419242858886720000
2022-12-01 -31.153846740722656000
2023-01-01 -12.949640274047852000
2023-02-01 -5.119453907012939500
2023-03-01 -6.143344879150391000
2023-04-01 -35.664333343505860000
2023-05-01 -22.183099746704100000
2023-06-01 -45.104892730712890000
2023-07-01 -25.352113723754883000
2023-08-01 -14.788732528686523000
2023-09-01 -22.419929504394530000
2023-10-01 -38.490566253662110000
2023-11-01 -33.333332061767580000
2023-12-01 -19.512195587158203000
2024-01-01 8.203125000000000000
2024-02-01 -8.108107566833496000
2024-03-01 1.219512224197387700
2024-04-01 -6.607929706573486000
2024-05-01 -4.035874366760254000
2024-06-01 -16.438356399536133000
2024-07-01 -11.637930870056152000
2024-08-01 -6.437768459320068000
2024-09-01 -19.433197021484375000
2024-10-01 -13.983051300048828000
2024-11-01 -3.982300758361816400
2024-12-01 3.982300758361816400
2025-01-01 -6.607929706573486000
2025-02-01 -8.606556892395020000
2025-03-01 -9.876543045043945000

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