Federal Reserve Economic Data

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 2025-12-01
Last Updated 2025-12-22 9:05 AM CST
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 10.12658214569091800
2013-03-01 6.89094924926757800
2013-04-01 -10.67374324798584000
2013-05-01 -42.10526275634765600
2013-06-01 -24.09786987304687500
2013-07-01 -14.47823238372802700
2013-08-01 -12.60504150390625000
2013-09-01 -5.80927991867065400
2013-10-01 0.70661908388137820
2013-11-01 7.37704896926879900
2013-12-01 8.00071239471435500
2014-01-01 7.34228467941284200
2014-02-01 5.29411745071411100
2014-03-01 -5.18318367004394500
2014-04-01 -4.35402488708496100
2014-05-01 9.27835083007812500
2014-06-01 1.93859267234802250
2014-07-01 4.51766300201416000
2014-08-01 17.18750000000000000
2014-09-01 19.08288002014160000
2014-10-01 24.68750000000000000
2014-11-01 34.37500000000000000
2014-12-01 26.70417213439941400
2015-01-01 22.40752983093261700
2015-02-01 21.98275756835937500
2015-03-01 11.06054306030273400
2015-04-01 8.55636310577392600
2015-05-01 16.03053474426269500
2015-06-01 18.43054199218750000
2015-07-01 19.26679420471191400
2015-08-01 18.59504127502441400
2015-09-01 -11.70063495635986300
2015-10-01 -17.38060379028320300
2015-11-01 1.17647063732147220
2015-12-01 -2.28944373130798340
2016-01-01 -4.58908605575561500
2016-02-01 -5.52147245407104500
2016-03-01 0.87160944938659670
2016-04-01 3.54417228698730470
2016-05-01 1.83486235141754150
2016-06-01 -11.21703433990478500
2016-07-01 -11.49356269836425800
2016-08-01 0.98684209585189820
2016-09-01 9.20105648040771500
2016-10-01 4.37411165237426800
2016-11-01 -13.81578922271728500
2016-12-01 -8.73162269592285200
2017-01-01 0.44814684987068176
2017-02-01 13.81578922271728500
2017-03-01 14.08401584625244100
2017-04-01 9.14187431335449200
2017-05-01 -1.04895102977752690
2017-06-01 1.77865600585937500
2017-07-01 -2.64236283302307130
2017-08-01 -14.60674190521240200
2017-09-01 -3.27100968360900900
2017-10-01 5.88873624801635700
2017-11-01 13.48314571380615200
2017-12-01 22.28441047668457000
2018-01-01 24.92773437500000000
2018-02-01 20.68965530395507800
2018-03-01 16.83614921569824200
2018-04-01 12.76038932800293000
2018-05-01 9.01287555694580000
2018-06-01 0.56046450138092040
2018-07-01 5.20490074157714800
2018-08-01 23.25581359863281200
2018-09-01 7.58341741561889650
2018-10-01 -1.43861889839172360
2018-11-01 -4.41176462173461900
2018-12-01 -5.66802358627319300
2019-01-01 -9.40073776245117200
2019-02-01 -15.73033714294433600
2019-03-01 -8.64593219757080000
2019-04-01 -5.78886938095092800
2019-05-01 -8.17120647430420000
2019-06-01 -13.72091007232666000
2019-07-01 -23.56902503967285000
2019-08-01 -38.37209320068359400
2019-09-01 -27.71368408203125000
2019-10-01 -20.97675514221191400
2019-11-01 -17.71217727661132800
2019-12-01 -19.70590782165527300
2020-01-01 -17.61984443664550800
2020-02-01 -11.11111068725586000
2020-03-01 -67.16417694091797000
2020-04-01 -52.93692779541015600
2020-05-01 -21.66710853576660000
2020-06-01 -11.60720062255859400
2020-07-01 -8.59471416473388700
2020-08-01 13.51716232299804700
2020-09-01 19.09589195251465000
2020-10-01 17.43213844299316400
2020-11-01 12.85819816589355500
2020-12-01 10.33872890472412100
2021-01-01 10.15942287445068400
2021-02-01 11.72839355468750000
2021-03-01 25.85106468200683600
2021-04-01 32.89072799682617000
2021-05-01 38.51785278320312500
2021-06-01 39.38730621337890600
2021-07-01 28.62458419799804700
2021-08-01 21.65976905822754000
2021-09-01 18.06429862976074200
2021-10-01 21.12400817871093800
2021-11-01 32.09481048583984400
2021-12-01 18.02460479736328000
2022-01-01 8.54616355895996100
2022-02-01 7.00453424453735350
2022-03-01 -2.31102561950683600
2022-04-01 3.39622640609741200
2022-05-01 5.61721897125244100
2022-06-01 -6.00000000000000000
2022-07-01 -10.09530735015869100
2022-08-01 4.88907766342163100
2022-09-01 5.75082588195800800
2022-10-01 -7.53622913360595700
2022-11-01 -13.16711235046386700
2022-12-01 -11.20331954956054700
2023-01-01 -1.21457481384277340
2023-02-01 -1.14503812789917000
2023-03-01 -10.46511650085449200
2023-04-01 -21.83908081054687500
2023-05-01 -14.88549613952636700
2023-06-01 -12.40601539611816400
2023-07-01 -11.45038127899170000
2023-08-01 -3.50194573402404800
2023-09-01 -8.10810756683349600
2023-10-01 -3.62903237342834470
2023-11-01 -12.71186447143554700
2023-12-01 -22.56637001037597700
2024-01-01 2.60869574546813960
2024-02-01 -5.17241382598876950
2024-03-01 2.70270276069641100
2024-04-01 -2.97029685974121100
2024-05-01 -25.50000190734863300
2024-06-01 -6.12244892120361300
2024-07-01 -26.08695602416992200
2024-08-01 -37.32057571411133000
2024-09-01 -22.22222137451172000
2024-10-01 -26.21359252929687500
2024-11-01 -29.53367805480957000
2024-12-01 -7.77202033996582000
2025-01-01 -6.18556737899780300
2025-02-01 -17.14285659790039000
2025-03-01 -31.13207626342773400
2025-04-01 -28.03738212585449200
2025-05-01 -25.59241676330566400
2025-06-01 -17.64705848693847700
2025-07-01 -19.59799003601074200
2025-08-01 -30.00000000000000000
2025-09-01 -21.76165771484375000
2025-10-01 -19.59799003601074200
2025-11-01 -25.12315368652343800
2025-12-01 -11.76470565795898400

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