Federal Reserve Economic Data

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

Title Chicago Fed Survey of Economic Conditions: Manufacturing Activity Index in Federal Reserve District 7: Chicago
Series ID CFSBCACTIVITYMFG
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 10.526315689086914000
2013-03-01 15.057697296142578000
2013-04-01 8.986927986145020000
2013-05-01 -8.333333015441895000
2013-06-01 -17.158384323120117000
2013-07-01 -7.615918159484863000
2013-08-01 20.930233001708984000
2013-09-01 11.638740539550781000
2013-10-01 0.041660506278276443
2013-11-01 -14.634145736694336000
2013-12-01 -1.097236156463623000
2014-01-01 -6.171484470367432000
2014-02-01 -31.578947067260742000
2014-03-01 1.961048603057861300
2014-04-01 30.084506988525390000
2014-05-01 48.000000000000000000
2014-06-01 20.972539901733400000
2014-07-01 16.041032791137695000
2014-08-01 32.876712799072266000
2014-09-01 37.878356933593750000
2014-10-01 45.325389862060550000
2014-11-01 55.714282989501950000
2014-12-01 40.820217132568360000
2015-01-01 27.651893615722656000
2015-02-01 16.853933334350586000
2015-03-01 25.609222412109375000
2015-04-01 25.310123443603516000
2015-05-01 14.705882072448730000
2015-06-01 16.153482437133790000
2015-07-01 11.358085632324219000
2015-08-01 0.000000000000000000
2015-09-01 2.527173995971679700
2015-10-01 -5.823832988739014000
2015-11-01 -25.609754562377930000
2015-12-01 -21.264720916748047000
2016-01-01 -11.871392250061035000
2016-02-01 2.752293586730957000
2016-03-01 25.554864883422850000
2016-04-01 24.530872344970703000
2016-05-01 -2.678571462631225600
2016-06-01 -23.761060714721680000
2016-07-01 -21.990125656127930000
2016-08-01 2.752293586730957000
2016-09-01 -3.066707372665405300
2016-10-01 -10.189490318298340000
2016-11-01 -19.090908050537110000
2016-12-01 -8.558474540710450000
2017-01-01 4.132033348083496000
2017-02-01 18.750000000000000000
2017-03-01 49.638912200927734000
2017-04-01 53.041629791259766000
2017-05-01 24.545454025268555000
2017-06-01 9.893427848815918000
2017-07-01 7.588082790374756000
2017-08-01 17.475728988647460000
2017-09-01 17.951572418212890000
2017-10-01 19.312578201293945000
2017-11-01 21.649484634399414000
2017-12-01 56.937370300292970000
2018-01-01 69.589485168457030000
2018-02-01 56.842105865478516000
2018-03-01 49.528209686279300000
2018-04-01 48.181278228759766000
2018-05-01 53.846153259277344000
2018-06-01 39.481002807617190000
2018-07-01 29.080478668212890000
2018-08-01 21.951219558715820000
2018-09-01 22.055030822753906000
2018-10-01 25.766590118408203000
2018-11-01 33.333332061767580000
2018-12-01 6.108627796173096000
2019-01-01 -1.715858221054077100
2019-02-01 12.121212005615234000
2019-03-01 0.550964176654815700
2019-04-01 -5.050505161285400000
2019-05-01 -3.030303001403808600
2019-06-01 -15.429135322570800000
2019-07-01 -27.417922973632812000
2019-08-01 -39.795917510986330000
2019-09-01 -30.992425918579100000
2019-10-01 -20.921220779418945000
2019-11-01 -8.910890579223633000
2019-12-01 -19.750688552856445000
2020-01-01 -21.652929306030273000
2020-02-01 -13.636363029479980000
2020-03-01 -27.234449386596680000
2020-04-01 -94.897956848144530000
2020-05-01 -59.536773681640625000
2020-06-01 -0.681818008422851600
2020-07-01 23.927303314208984000
2020-08-01 31.680814743041992000
2020-09-01 30.132352828979492000
2020-10-01 9.999175071716309000
2020-11-01 -4.847501754760742000
2020-12-01 4.188733577728271500
2021-01-01 20.509311676025390000
2021-02-01 21.129962921142578000
2021-03-01 37.885459899902344000
2021-04-01 63.689777374267580000
2021-05-01 50.816013336181640000
2021-06-01 33.943489074707030000
2021-07-01 32.720378875732420000
2021-08-01 26.284000396728516000
2021-09-01 12.349191665649414000
2021-10-01 8.424135208129883000
2021-11-01 7.418831348419189500
2021-12-01 -1.539589405059814500
2022-01-01 -3.519061326980591000
2022-02-01 4.635988712310791000
2022-03-01 8.694499969482422000
2022-04-01 3.005295753479004000
2022-05-01 3.641463994979858400
2022-06-01 -10.898311614990234000
2022-07-01 -36.153049468994140000
2022-08-01 -34.125099182128906000
2022-09-01 -32.797618865966800000
2022-10-01 -29.949079513549805000
2022-11-01 -25.384019851684570000
2022-12-01 -31.428571701049805000
2023-01-01 0.000000000000000000
2023-02-01 13.392857551574707000
2023-03-01 -4.878048896789551000
2023-04-01 -50.847457885742190000
2023-05-01 -20.869565963745117000
2023-06-01 -39.823005676269530000
2023-07-01 -37.815124511718750000
2023-08-01 -19.672130584716797000
2023-09-01 -21.774194717407227000
2023-10-01 -44.736843109130860000
2023-11-01 -25.714284896850586000
2023-12-01 -5.940593719482422000
2024-01-01 14.018691062927246000
2024-02-01 5.555555343627930000
2024-03-01 0.000000000000000000
2024-04-01 -16.483516693115234000
2024-05-01 3.092783689498901400
2024-06-01 -29.347826004028320000
2024-07-01 -28.723403930664062000
2024-08-01 0.000000000000000000
2024-09-01 -16.304347991943360000
2024-10-01 -6.666666507720947000
2024-11-01 -6.976744174957275000
2024-12-01 3.296703338623047000
2025-01-01 6.382978439331055000
2025-02-01 3.030303001403808600
2025-03-01 12.307692527770996000

Subscribe to the FRED newsletter


Follow us

Back to Top