Table Data - Chicago Fed Survey of Economic Conditions: Capital Spending Expectations in the next 12 Months in Federal Reserve District 7: Chicago

Title Chicago Fed Survey of Economic Conditions: Capital Spending Expectations in the next 12 Months in Federal Reserve District 7: Chicago
Series ID CFSBCCAPXEXP
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 2026-09-01
Last Updated 2026-09-22 9:05 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 10.1265821456909180
2013-03-01 6.8909492492675780
2013-04-01 -10.6737432479858400
2013-05-01 -42.1052627563476560
2013-06-01 -24.0978698730468750
2013-07-01 -14.4782323837280270
2013-08-01 -12.6050415039062500
2013-09-01 -5.8092799186706540
2013-10-01 1.5084722042083740
2013-11-01 9.8360652923583980
2013-12-01 8.8560228347778320
2014-01-01 7.3422846794128420
2014-02-01 5.2941174507141110
2014-03-01 -5.1831836700439450
2014-04-01 -4.3540248870849610
2014-05-01 9.2783508300781250
2014-06-01 1.9385926723480225
2014-07-01 4.5176630020141600
2014-08-01 17.1875000000000000
2014-09-01 19.0828800201416000
2014-10-01 24.6875000000000000
2014-11-01 34.3750000000000000
2014-12-01 26.7041721343994140
2015-01-01 22.4075298309326170
2015-02-01 21.9827575683593750
2015-03-01 11.8272457122802730
2015-04-01 9.3595762252807620
2015-05-01 16.0305347442626950
2015-06-01 18.4305419921875000
2015-07-01 19.2667942047119140
2015-08-01 18.5950412750244140
2015-09-01 -11.7006349563598630
2015-10-01 -17.3806037902832030
2015-11-01 1.1764706373214722
2015-12-01 -2.2894437313079834
2016-01-01 -4.5890860557556150
2016-02-01 -5.5214724540710450
2016-03-01 0.8716094493865967
2016-04-01 3.8499825000762940
2016-05-01 2.7522935867309570
2016-06-01 -10.9178724288940430
2016-07-01 -11.4935626983642580
2016-08-01 0.9868420958518982
2016-09-01 9.2010564804077150
2016-10-01 4.3741116523742680
2016-11-01 -13.8157892227172850
2016-12-01 -8.0772676467895500
2017-01-01 1.1243138313293457
2017-02-01 13.8157892227172850
2017-03-01 14.0840158462524410
2017-04-01 9.4915246963500980
2017-05-01 0.0000000000000000
2017-06-01 2.1207053661346436
2017-07-01 -2.6423628330230713
2017-08-01 -14.6067419052124020
2017-09-01 -3.2710096836090090
2017-10-01 5.8887362480163570
2017-11-01 13.4831457138061520
2017-12-01 22.9881954193115230
2018-01-01 25.6549777984619140
2018-02-01 20.6896553039550780
2018-03-01 16.8361492156982420
2018-04-01 13.6187591553000000
2018-05-01 11.5879831314000000
2018-06-01 1.4001735449000000
2018-07-01 5.2049007415771480
2018-08-01 23.2558135986328120
2018-09-01 7.5834174156188965
2018-10-01 -1.4386188983917236
2018-11-01 -4.4117646217346190
2018-12-01 -5.6680235862731930
2019-01-01 -8.3015680313000000
2019-02-01 -12.3595504761000000
2019-03-01 -7.4201917648000000
2019-04-01 -5.0106592178000000
2019-05-01 -5.8365759850000000
2019-06-01 -11.3801336288000000
2019-07-01 -21.2311992645000000
2019-08-01 -36.0465126038000000
2019-09-01 -28.4754486084000000
2019-10-01 -22.1358795166015620
2019-11-01 -16.6051654815673830
2019-12-01 -19.3208618164062500
2020-01-01 -16.8146915436000000
2020-02-01 -8.6419754028000000
2020-03-01 -66.0447769165039000
2020-04-01 -51.4094848633000000
2020-05-01 -20.6681499481000000
2020-06-01 -11.1704158783000000
2020-07-01 -6.9615573883000000
2020-08-01 15.5583686829000000
2020-09-01 20.7616004944000000
2020-10-01 19.3036098480000000
2020-11-01 13.8751468658000000
2020-12-01 11.1901140213000000
2021-01-01 11.8335895538000000
2021-02-01 13.4403963089000000
2021-03-01 27.7600746155000000
2021-04-01 33.8907279968000000
2021-05-01 39.5224304199000000
2021-06-01 40.4253692627000000
2021-07-01 29.6726799011000000
2021-08-01 23.8220653534000000
2021-09-01 20.1851024628000000
2021-10-01 22.1992778778076170
2021-11-01 32.0948104858398440
2021-12-01 19.2000007629000000
2022-01-01 11.0249090195000000
2022-02-01 7.5802612305000000
2022-03-01 -0.0755786300000000
2022-04-01 7.4352784157000000
2022-05-01 8.8972501755000000
2022-06-01 -2.1818180084000000
2022-07-01 -8.4061584473000000
2022-08-01 4.8890776634216310
2022-09-01 6.8702287674000000
2022-10-01 -5.8489899635000000
2022-11-01 -11.4224424362000000
2022-12-01 -11.2033195495605470
2023-01-01 1.2145748138000000
2023-02-01 0.0000000000000000
2023-03-01 -5.8139533997000000
2023-04-01 -17.2413787842000000
2023-05-01 -10.3053436279000000
2023-06-01 -7.8947372437000000
2023-07-01 -8.0152673721000000
2023-08-01 0.0000000000000000
2023-09-01 -5.7915058136000000
2023-10-01 -2.4193549156188965
2023-11-01 -8.8983049393000000
2023-12-01 -17.2566356658935550
2024-01-01 7.8260869980000000
2024-02-01 1.2931034565000000
2024-03-01 6.7567567825000000
2024-04-01 4.4554452896000000
2024-05-01 -21.0000000000000000
2024-06-01 0.0000000000000000
2024-07-01 -17.3913040161000000
2024-08-01 -31.5789489746000000
2024-09-01 -15.2777776718000000
2024-10-01 -23.3009719849000000
2024-11-01 -26.4248695374000000
2024-12-01 -6.2176165581000000
2025-01-01 -3.0927836895000000
2025-02-01 -17.1428565979000000
2025-03-01 -29.7169818878000000
2025-04-01 -26.6355133057000000
2025-05-01 -27.0142173767089840
2025-06-01 -16.1764698029000000
2025-07-01 -18.0904521942000000
2025-08-01 -33.1578941345214840
2025-09-01 -21.7616577148000000
2025-10-01 -12.0603008270000000
2025-11-01 -24.8780479431152340
2025-12-01 -9.3750000000000000
2026-01-01 -22.2222213745117200
2026-02-01 -26.0869579315000000
2026-03-01 -9.2307691574096680
2026-04-01 4.7872338294982910
2026-05-01 -11.2903223038000000
2026-06-01 -3.4883720875000000
2026-07-01 -12.3529405594000000
2026-08-01 -11.4649686813000000
2026-09-01 20.7547168732000000

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