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 2025-12-01
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 -22.50000000000000000
2013-03-01 -12.76363658905029300
2013-04-01 -9.52440929412841800
2013-05-01 -14.17322921752929700
2013-06-01 -1.53508067131042480
2013-07-01 3.08662462234497070
2013-08-01 0.00000000000000000
2013-09-01 -12.16083717346191400
2013-10-01 -17.05214118957519500
2013-11-01 -15.00000000000000000
2013-12-01 -6.41039228439331050
2014-01-01 -6.63752412796020500
2014-02-01 -16.57458686828613300
2014-03-01 -5.08202791213989300
2014-04-01 0.03771797940135002
2014-05-01 -2.85714292526245100
2014-06-01 21.21117973327636700
2014-07-01 23.96287727355957000
2014-08-01 5.58139562606811500
2014-09-01 22.63204002380371000
2014-10-01 24.02696228027343800
2014-11-01 9.85915470123291000
2014-12-01 9.68299388885498000
2015-01-01 9.19039726257324200
2015-02-01 8.36653423309326200
2015-03-01 6.65807867050170900
2015-04-01 10.95633792877197300
2015-05-01 21.50537681579590000
2015-06-01 14.84882068634033200
2015-07-01 4.83769750595092800
2015-08-01 -9.19540214538574200
2015-09-01 -1.40658009052276610
2015-10-01 0.85914093255996700
2015-11-01 -2.24719095230102540
2015-12-01 -7.34714078903198200
2016-01-01 -7.07725191116333000
2016-02-01 -0.89820355176925660
2016-03-01 6.74056386947631800
2016-04-01 5.27438545227050800
2016-05-01 -6.08695650100708000
2016-06-01 -11.75763416290283200
2016-07-01 -13.41844940185546900
2016-08-01 -11.18012428283691400
2016-09-01 2.26198697090148930
2016-10-01 4.03839111328125000
2016-11-01 -5.73248434066772500
2016-12-01 -7.65586757659912100
2017-01-01 -4.93357229232788100
2017-02-01 2.81250000000000000
2017-03-01 0.40887165069580080
2017-04-01 4.93068361282348600
2017-05-01 16.72131156921386700
2017-06-01 11.36028099060058600
2017-07-01 1.08526694774627690
2017-08-01 -14.78873252868652300
2017-09-01 -7.65002012252807600
2017-10-01 -2.47316479682922360
2017-11-01 1.08695650100708000
2017-12-01 -1.65291953086853030
2018-01-01 2.28158140182495100
2018-02-01 13.43283557891845700
2018-03-01 19.05370140075683600
2018-04-01 20.21565055847168000
2018-05-01 16.11570358276367200
2018-06-01 12.85564327239990200
2018-07-01 16.09108924865722700
2018-08-01 26.03773498535156200
2018-09-01 9.91432571411132800
2018-10-01 -3.45013785362243650
2018-11-01 -14.94661998748779300
2018-12-01 -11.72056388854980500
2019-01-01 -14.26421451568603500
2019-02-01 -23.07692337036132800
2019-03-01 -9.72198581695556600
2019-04-01 -3.15429162979125980
2019-05-01 -5.28169012069702150
2019-06-01 -8.89157772064209000
2019-07-01 -9.99458980560302700
2019-08-01 -8.66425991058349600
2019-09-01 -12.24559211730957000
2019-10-01 -14.60541820526123000
2019-11-01 -15.90106010437011700
2019-12-01 -16.32044601440429700
2020-01-01 -11.91059017181396500
2020-02-01 -2.33463048934936520
2020-03-01 -30.41490745544433600
2020-04-01 -59.62732696533203000
2020-05-01 -51.27840423583984400
2020-06-01 -42.09796905517578000
2020-07-01 -39.82828903198242000
2020-08-01 -38.99928283691406000
2020-09-01 -28.52563858032226600
2020-10-01 -19.10724258422851600
2020-11-01 -16.33279037475586000
2020-12-01 -18.09661865234375000
2021-01-01 -24.29198646545410000
2021-02-01 -10.57404613494873000
2021-03-01 1.47122931480407710
2021-04-01 -0.92272639274597170
2021-05-01 -0.56676894426345830
2021-06-01 7.52020168304443400
2021-07-01 10.80679321289062500
2021-08-01 8.50606346130371100
2021-09-01 13.23689842224121100
2021-10-01 9.46868896484375000
2021-11-01 -4.45163774490356450
2021-12-01 -10.85928916931152300
2022-01-01 -10.09440708160400400
2022-02-01 -3.87411022186279300
2022-03-01 9.80953407287597700
2022-04-01 14.71592044830322300
2022-05-01 11.57495212554931600
2022-06-01 11.18945980072021500
2022-07-01 3.39101743698120100
2022-08-01 -2.35264801979064940
2022-09-01 -15.24152660369873000
2022-10-01 -17.29509735107422000
2022-11-01 -6.38641023635864300
2022-12-01 -5.30035305023193400
2023-01-01 -6.88524627685546900
2023-02-01 -13.04347801208496100
2023-03-01 -11.35646724700927700
2023-04-01 -12.66233825683593800
2023-05-01 -12.54019355773925800
2023-06-01 7.69230747222900400
2023-07-01 -9.80392169952392600
2023-08-01 -15.68627452850341800
2023-09-01 -18.38709640502929700
2023-10-01 -16.38225364685058600
2023-11-01 -23.91304397583007800
2023-12-01 -26.13636398315429700
2024-01-01 -11.91335678100586000
2024-02-01 -27.65957450866699200
2024-03-01 -8.92193317413330000
2024-04-01 -9.30232524871826200
2024-05-01 -17.50972747802734400
2024-06-01 -13.68821334838867200
2024-07-01 -19.92619895935058600
2024-08-01 -26.18181800842285000
2024-09-01 -22.02797126770019500
2024-10-01 -30.88235473632812500
2024-11-01 -19.24528312683105500
2024-12-01 -33.58208847045898400
2025-01-01 -30.85106468200683600
2025-02-01 -34.00000000000000000
2025-03-01 -15.05016803741455000
2025-04-01 -30.00000000000000000
2025-05-01 -6.59340667724609400
2025-06-01 -22.17898941040039000
2025-07-01 -30.95238113403320300
2025-08-01 -17.28395080566406200
2025-09-01 -25.60975646972656200
2025-10-01 -23.80952453613281200
2025-11-01 -30.35019493103027300
2025-12-01 -24.13793182373047000

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