Title: Chicago Fed Survey of Economic Conditions: Current Capital Spending Index in Federal Reserve District 7: Chicago Series ID: CFSBCCAPX 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 2019-09-01 Last Updated: 2019-10-16 2:31 PM 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 (https://www.chicagofed.org/research/data/cfsec/current-data). 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 -28.9473686218261720 2013-03-01 -25.2100830078125000 2013-04-01 . 2013-05-01 -33.3333320617675800 2013-06-01 -41.8032760620117200 2013-07-01 . 2013-08-01 -15.2542381286621100 2013-09-01 -19.6721305847167970 2013-10-01 . 2013-11-01 -28.7999992370605470 2013-12-01 -15.7894735336303710 2014-01-01 . 2014-02-01 -52.0231208801269500 2014-03-01 -20.5263156890869140 2014-04-01 . 2014-05-01 4.7120418548583980 2014-06-01 4.8648648262023930 2014-07-01 . 2014-08-01 4.7120418548583980 2014-09-01 4.8648648262023930 2014-10-01 . 2014-11-01 -3.0769231319427490 2014-12-01 -7.4626865386962890 2015-01-01 . 2015-02-01 -27.2727279663085940 2015-03-01 -18.1451625823974600 2015-04-01 . 2015-05-01 -6.8441066741943360 2015-06-01 -13.4693880081176760 2015-07-01 . 2015-08-01 -8.6776866912841800 2015-09-01 -23.0769233703613280 2015-10-01 . 2015-11-01 -29.1497974395751950 2015-12-01 -12.9032258987426760 2016-01-01 . 2016-02-01 -20.9523811340332030 2016-03-01 -9.0634441375732420 2016-04-01 . 2016-05-01 -22.5705318450927730 2016-06-01 -21.8543052673339840 2016-07-01 . 2016-08-01 -14.9501657485961910 2016-09-01 -4.0955634117126465 2016-10-01 . 2016-11-01 -17.6470584869384770 2016-12-01 -21.0000000000000000 2017-01-01 . 2017-02-01 -18.6885242462158200 2017-03-01 -13.2653064727783200 2017-04-01 . 2017-05-01 -1.0380622148513794 2017-06-01 -13.4020614624023440 2017-07-01 . 2017-08-01 -23.4200744628906250 2017-09-01 -8.8235292434692380 2017-10-01 . 2017-11-01 -23.8636360168457030 2017-12-01 -20.5035972595214840 2018-01-01 . 2018-02-01 -15.1750974655151370 2018-03-01 -11.1570253372192380 2018-04-01 . 2018-05-01 -11.9469022750854500 2018-06-01 -22.9838714599609380 2018-07-01 . 2018-08-01 0.0000000000000000 2018-09-01 -22.0588245391845700 2018-10-01 . 2018-11-01 -24.4444446563720700 2018-12-01 -16.8421058654785160 2019-01-01 . 2019-02-01 -54.3396224975585940 2019-03-01 -21.0937500000000000 2019-04-01 . 2019-05-01 -31.4516143798828120 2019-06-01 -24.3902435302734380 2019-07-01 . 2019-08-01 -43.2203407287597660 2019-09-01 -27.0270271301269530