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 2026-05-01
Last Updated 2026-05-25 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 -17.05214118957519500
2013-11-01 -15.00000000000000000
2013-12-01 -6.41039228439331050
2014-01-01 -7.17799949645996100
2014-02-01 -18.23204421997070300
2014-03-01 -6.62983417510986300
2014-04-01 -1.42857134342193600
2014-05-01 -4.28571414947509800
2014-06-01 20.74534225463867200
2014-07-01 24.41788291931152300
2014-08-01 6.97674465179443400
2014-09-01 21.10494995117187500
2014-10-01 22.50414276123047000
2014-11-01 11.26760578155517600
2014-12-01 9.27950096130371100
2015-01-01 8.65697479248046900
2015-02-01 9.56175327301025400
2015-03-01 7.09270334243774400
2015-04-01 10.59791469573974600
2015-05-01 20.43010711669922000
2015-06-01 12.93095016479492200
2015-07-01 3.27045750617980960
2015-08-01 -9.19540214538574200
2015-09-01 -2.20254039764404300
2015-10-01 -0.30320918560028076
2015-11-01 -3.37078642845153800
2015-12-01 -7.73795652389526400
2016-01-01 -7.07725191116333000
2016-02-01 -0.89820355176925660
2016-03-01 6.74056386947631800
2016-04-01 4.98453044891357400
2016-05-01 -6.95652151107788100
2016-06-01 -12.04118824005127000
2016-07-01 -13.41844940185546900
2016-08-01 -11.18012428283691400
2016-09-01 2.26198697090148930
2016-10-01 4.34993934631347700
2016-11-01 -4.77707004547119100
2016-12-01 -6.69444322586059600
2017-01-01 -4.28349590301513700
2017-02-01 2.81250000000000000
2017-03-01 1.02272725105285640
2017-04-01 5.90163946151733400
2017-05-01 17.70491790771484400
2017-06-01 11.68102264404296900
2017-07-01 1.42972481250762940
2017-08-01 -13.73239517211914000
2017-09-01 -7.30556201934814450
2017-10-01 -2.11872243881225600
2017-11-01 2.17391300201416000
2017-12-01 -1.27484774589538570
2018-01-01 2.64660406112670900
2018-02-01 14.55223846435546900
2018-03-01 20.95223426818847700
2018-04-01 22.19137382507324200
2018-05-01 17.35537338256836000
2018-06-01 14.01993656158447300
2018-07-01 17.58945083618164000
2018-08-01 28.30188560485840000
2018-09-01 12.07639598846435500
2018-10-01 -2.02637791633605960
2018-11-01 -14.94661998748779300
2018-12-01 -11.06838989257812500
2019-01-01 -13.24825191497802700
2019-02-01 -22.02797126770019500
2019-03-01 -8.01017093658447300
2019-04-01 -1.05633807182312010
2019-05-01 -3.16901421546936040
2019-06-01 -6.76880455017089800
2019-07-01 -8.20756912231445300
2019-08-01 -7.58122730255126950
2019-09-01 -10.44315433502197300
2019-10-01 -13.15614318847656200
2019-11-01 -15.90106010437011700
2019-12-01 -16.32044601440429700
2020-01-01 -11.52994346618652300
2020-02-01 -1.16731524467468260
2020-03-01 -29.99986267089843800
2020-04-01 -59.62732696533203000
2020-05-01 -50.04822158813476600
2020-06-01 -40.42463684082031000
2020-07-01 -40.96569824218750000
2020-08-01 -41.45290374755859400
2020-09-01 -30.18315124511718800
2020-10-01 -21.39997291564941400
2020-11-01 -17.81305503845215000
2020-12-01 -18.92611122131347700
2021-01-01 -25.55678367614746000
2021-02-01 -12.42218494415283200
2021-03-01 -0.44846072793006897
2021-04-01 -1.42948317527771000
2021-05-01 -1.54428601264953610
2021-06-01 6.51010084152221700
2021-07-01 11.31973075866699200
2021-08-01 9.05319690704345700
2021-09-01 14.24699974060058600
2021-10-01 10.51137351989746100
2021-11-01 -3.29779124259948730
2021-12-01 -9.10775375366211000
2022-01-01 -8.91592979431152300
2022-02-01 -2.76845455169677730
2022-03-01 9.84256362915039000
2022-04-01 13.22358322143554700
2022-05-01 9.66410350799560500
2022-06-01 10.26066780090332000
2022-07-01 2.91663408279418950
2022-08-01 -4.78132295608520500
2022-09-01 -16.73808670043945300
2022-10-01 -17.25734901428222700
2022-11-01 -6.87028121948242200
2022-12-01 -8.48056507110595700
2023-01-01 -8.85245895385742200
2023-02-01 -13.97515487670898400
2023-03-01 -13.24921131134033200
2023-04-01 -13.63636398315429700
2023-05-01 -16.39871406555175800
2023-06-01 5.76923084259033200
2023-07-01 -12.74509811401367200
2023-08-01 -20.58823585510254000
2023-09-01 -19.35483741760254000
2023-10-01 -19.45392608642578000
2023-11-01 -28.26086997985840000
2023-12-01 -29.54545402526855500
2024-01-01 -15.16245460510253900
2024-02-01 -28.72340393066406200
2024-03-01 -10.03717517852783200
2024-04-01 -8.13953495025634800
2024-05-01 -21.01167297363281200
2024-06-01 -17.11026573181152300
2024-07-01 -22.14022064208984400
2024-08-01 -28.36363792419433600
2024-09-01 -25.17482376098632800
2024-10-01 -30.88235473632812500
2024-11-01 -21.50943374633789000
2024-12-01 -36.94029617309570000
2025-01-01 -34.04255294799805000
2025-02-01 -36.00000000000000000
2025-03-01 -17.05685615539550800
2025-04-01 -34.02061843872070000
2025-05-01 -8.75912380218505900
2025-06-01 -25.58139610290527300
2025-07-01 -32.01580810546875000
2025-08-01 -19.67213058471679700
2025-09-01 -25.50607299804687500
2025-10-01 -20.23809432983398400
2025-11-01 -32.43243026733398400
2025-12-01 -24.69135856628418000
2026-01-01 -17.87233924865722700
2026-02-01 -32.46753311157226600
2026-03-01 -22.89156532287597700
2026-04-01 -22.04081726074218800
2026-05-01 -7.40740728378295900

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