Federal Reserve Economic Data

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

Title Chicago Fed Survey of Economic Conditions: Current Hiring Index in Federal Reserve District 7: Chicago
Series ID CFSBCHIRING
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 2025-04-01
Last Updated 2025-04-22 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 -25.00000000000000000
2013-03-01 -15.19999980926513700
2013-04-01 -11.91181087493896500
2013-05-01 -16.53543281555175800
2013-06-01 -3.84867668151855470
2013-07-01 0.80220556259155270
2013-08-01 -2.27272725105285640
2013-09-01 -12.90194320678711000
2013-10-01 -18.44965553283691400
2013-11-01 -19.28571319580078000
2013-12-01 -7.90107536315918000
2014-01-01 -6.09704828262329100
2014-02-01 -14.91712760925293000
2014-03-01 -5.42440986633300800
2014-04-01 -1.42857134342193600
2014-05-01 -4.28571414947509800
2014-06-01 20.74534225463867200
2014-07-01 23.50787353515625000
2014-08-01 4.18604660034179700
2014-09-01 22.17703628540039000
2014-10-01 24.02696228027343800
2014-11-01 9.85915470123291000
2014-12-01 9.68299388885498000
2015-01-01 8.80065155029296900
2015-02-01 7.17131519317626950
2015-03-01 5.50031280517578100
2015-04-01 10.55718421936035200
2015-05-01 22.58064460754394500
2015-06-01 15.19945144653320300
2015-07-01 4.83769750595092800
2015-08-01 -9.19540214538574200
2015-09-01 -2.99850058555603030
2015-10-01 -0.73277968168258670
2015-11-01 -2.24719095230102540
2015-12-01 -7.34714078903198200
2016-01-01 -7.37014436721801800
2016-02-01 -1.79640710353851320
2016-03-01 5.87813186645507800
2016-04-01 4.13287782669067400
2016-05-01 -7.82608699798584000
2016-06-01 -12.93553924560546900
2016-07-01 -14.33305454254150400
2016-08-01 -12.11180114746093800
2016-09-01 1.95817935466766360
2016-10-01 4.03839111328125000
2016-11-01 -5.73248434066772500
2016-12-01 -8.91408061981201200
2017-01-01 -6.53943252563476600
2017-02-01 1.87500000000000000
2017-03-01 -1.15974867343902590
2017-04-01 3.64451003074646000
2017-05-01 16.72131156921386700
2017-06-01 10.70387268066406200
2017-07-01 -0.26005834341049194
2017-08-01 -16.90140914916992200
2017-09-01 -9.04583835601806600
2017-10-01 -3.88895130157470700
2017-11-01 -1.08695650100708000
2017-12-01 -3.76305747032165530
2018-01-01 0.15240854024887085
2018-02-01 11.19402980804443400
2018-03-01 17.49385261535644500
2018-04-01 19.02117729187011700
2018-05-01 14.87603378295898400
2018-06-01 11.69135189056396500
2018-07-01 14.96188163757324200
2018-08-01 24.90565872192382800
2018-09-01 8.83329010009765600
2018-10-01 -4.85828828811645500
2018-11-01 -17.08185005187988300
2018-12-01 -13.76760005950927700
2019-01-01 -15.95408916473388700
2019-02-01 -24.12587356567382800
2019-03-01 -10.10342216491699200
2019-04-01 -3.50640439987182600
2019-05-01 -6.33802843093872100
2019-06-01 -9.95296478271484400
2019-07-01 -11.41784381866455000
2019-08-01 -10.83032417297363300
2019-09-01 -13.67655467987060500
2019-10-01 -16.02140617370605500
2019-11-01 -18.02120018005371000
2019-12-01 -19.21581459045410000
2020-01-01 -14.90174102783203100
2020-02-01 -4.66926097869873050
2020-03-01 -32.62103652954101600
2020-04-01 -59.62732696533203000
2020-05-01 -51.27840423583984400
2020-06-01 -42.09796905517578000
2020-07-01 -39.82828903198242000
2020-08-01 -39.39807891845703000
2020-09-01 -29.35439491271972700
2020-10-01 -20.01485633850097700
2020-11-01 -16.82621192932129000
2020-12-01 -17.68187332153320300
2021-01-01 -23.84959030151367200
2021-02-01 -10.07954025268554700
2021-03-01 1.94765615463256840
2021-04-01 -1.41132569313049320
2021-05-01 -1.07112956047058100
2021-06-01 7.02020168304443400
2021-07-01 10.80360221862793000
2021-08-01 9.05319690704345700
2021-09-01 13.74194908142089800
2021-10-01 9.03187084197998000
2021-11-01 -5.44173669815063500
2021-12-01 -10.85928916931152300
2022-01-01 -10.67505264282226600
2022-02-01 -3.88274025917053220
2022-03-01 10.87414550781250000
2022-04-01 14.78778362274170000
2022-05-01 10.65294551849365200
2022-06-01 10.75102329254150400
2022-07-01 2.91663408279418950
2022-08-01 -2.37799048423767100
2022-09-01 -14.74483871459961000
2022-10-01 -18.23162078857422000
2022-11-01 -8.41798210144043000
2022-12-01 -9.54063606262207000
2023-01-01 -8.85245895385742200
2023-02-01 -16.77018547058105500
2023-03-01 -9.46372222900390600
2023-04-01 -12.66233825683593800
2023-05-01 -10.61093235015869100
2023-06-01 7.69230747222900400
2023-07-01 -8.82352924346923800
2023-08-01 -16.66666603088379000
2023-09-01 -19.35483741760254000
2023-10-01 -18.43003463745117200
2023-11-01 -23.91304397583007800
2023-12-01 -29.54545402526855500
2024-01-01 -12.99638938903808600
2024-02-01 -27.65957450866699200
2024-03-01 -10.03717517852783200
2024-04-01 -3.48837208747863770
2024-05-01 -12.84046745300293000
2024-06-01 -12.59541988372802700
2024-07-01 -20.00000000000000000
2024-08-01 -22.99270057678222700
2024-09-01 -18.88111877441406200
2024-10-01 -27.57353019714355500
2024-11-01 -19.24528312683105500
2024-12-01 -32.46268463134765600
2025-01-01 -26.78571319580078000
2025-02-01 -29.29292869567871000
2025-03-01 -11.18644046783447300
2025-04-01 -29.00000000000000000

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