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

Title Chicago Fed Survey of Economic Conditions: Hiring Expectations in the next 12 Months in Federal Reserve District 7: Chicago
Series ID CFSBCHIRINGEXP
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 2026-08-01
Last Updated 2026-08-24 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 -26.82926750183105500
2013-03-01 -20.19643783569336000
2013-04-01 -16.28101158142090000
2013-05-01 -16.03053474426269500
2013-06-01 -26.19353103637695300
2013-07-01 -24.56273078918457000
2013-08-01 -11.02941226959228500
2013-09-01 -3.59654736518859860
2013-10-01 -3.42049264907836900
2013-11-01 -10.48951053619384800
2013-12-01 3.42323970794677730
2014-01-01 8.91119670867920000
2014-02-01 4.91803264617919900
2014-03-01 -0.08328220993280411
2014-04-01 3.27731108665466300
2014-05-01 15.71428585052490200
2014-06-01 8.04019355773925800
2014-07-01 8.45329570770263700
2014-08-01 16.98113250732422000
2014-09-01 23.46407699584961000
2014-10-01 29.00140380859375000
2014-11-01 33.96226501464844000
2014-12-01 27.89396286010742200
2015-01-01 22.07346916198730500
2015-02-01 16.73306846618652300
2015-03-01 8.97731399536132800
2015-04-01 6.62742567062377900
2015-05-01 10.79136753082275400
2015-06-01 8.23893833160400400
2015-07-01 1.70998036861419680
2015-08-01 -9.23076915740966800
2015-09-01 -14.15347766876220700
2015-10-01 -13.32543849945068400
2015-11-01 -6.69145011901855500
2015-12-01 -1.67528700828552250
2016-01-01 1.25621116161346440
2016-02-01 1.78571426868438720
2016-03-01 6.06563234329223600
2016-04-01 1.83890783786773680
2016-05-01 -11.33720970153808600
2016-06-01 -14.69126796722412100
2016-07-01 -12.82287693023681600
2016-08-01 -5.60747671127319300
2016-09-01 2.76633667945861800
2016-10-01 2.71960139274597170
2016-11-01 -5.75079870223999000
2016-12-01 1.15540218353271480
2017-01-01 6.94084739685058600
2017-02-01 11.28526592254638700
2017-03-01 13.95710563659668000
2017-04-01 12.28979301452636700
2017-05-01 5.90163946151733400
2017-06-01 -3.36114478111267100
2017-07-01 -5.63126754760742200
2017-08-01 -1.06007063388824460
2017-09-01 0.36872023344039917
2017-10-01 -0.34893158078193665
2017-11-01 -3.26086950302124020
2017-12-01 6.33861017227172850
2018-01-01 15.38739681243896500
2018-02-01 23.50746154785156200
2018-03-01 21.27544021606445300
2018-04-01 17.89764785766601600
2018-05-01 13.69294548034668000
2018-06-01 5.97950220108032200
2018-07-01 4.79961585998535200
2018-08-01 10.07462692260742200
2018-09-01 1.89569306373596200
2018-10-01 -3.43465614318847660
2018-11-01 -6.27177715301513700
2018-12-01 -11.19178485870361300
2019-01-01 -10.67407035827636700
2019-02-01 -4.18118476867675800
2019-03-01 -10.83306980133056600
2019-04-01 -10.10821056365966800
2019-05-01 -1.05633807182312010
2019-06-01 -0.34445807337760925
2019-07-01 -6.68595552444458000
2019-08-01 -20.50359725952148400
2019-09-01 -19.54507446289062500
2019-10-01 -11.14887142181396500
2019-11-01 5.24475526809692400
2019-12-01 13.24920654296875000
2020-01-01 14.51242637634277300
2020-02-01 8.30039501190185500
2020-03-01 -48.91304397583008000
2020-04-01 -34.80134963989258000
2020-05-01 -16.00931358337402300
2020-06-01 -12.59508895874023400
2020-07-01 -14.87569808959961000
2020-08-01 -15.36098289489746100
2020-09-01 -6.72887134552001950
2020-10-01 3.63750553131103500
2020-11-01 8.25103378295898400
2020-12-01 15.52728843688964800
2021-01-01 16.81779289245605500
2021-02-01 15.71592712402343800
2021-03-01 25.27122116088867200
2021-04-01 31.29942321777343800
2021-05-01 36.03917312622070000
2021-06-01 35.32257843017578000
2021-07-01 32.32043075561523400
2021-08-01 34.87834548950195000
2021-09-01 26.67637252807617200
2021-10-01 15.29375171661377000
2021-11-01 16.01718139648437500
2021-12-01 13.76290416717529300
2022-01-01 11.60827159881591800
2022-02-01 17.47886657714843800
2022-03-01 16.45701408386230500
2022-04-01 16.53894615173340000
2022-05-01 10.98769664764404300
2022-06-01 0.86718142032623290
2022-07-01 -3.28970241546630860
2022-08-01 -9.01083469390869100
2022-09-01 -3.97055196762084960
2022-10-01 -7.04519414901733400
2022-11-01 -17.98912048339843800
2022-12-01 -7.21649503707885700
2023-01-01 -12.38095283508300800
2023-02-01 -5.45454549789428700
2023-03-01 -25.00000000000000000
2023-04-01 -25.16128921508789000
2023-05-01 -13.59223270416259800
2023-06-01 -28.39116859436035000
2023-07-01 -22.64151000976562500
2023-08-01 -26.08695602416992200
2023-09-01 -22.08588981628418000
2023-10-01 -26.91029739379882800
2023-11-01 -31.80212020874023400
2023-12-01 -4.47761201858520500
2024-01-01 -12.63157939910888700
2024-02-01 1.02040815353393550
2024-03-01 -12.85714244842529300
2024-04-01 -3.38345885276794430
2024-05-01 -33.33333206176758000
2024-06-01 -33.58208847045898400
2024-07-01 -9.67741966247558600
2024-08-01 -20.28469848632812500
2024-09-01 -12.37113380432128900
2024-10-01 -10.75268840789795000
2024-11-01 -17.97752761840820300
2024-12-01 -2.26415085792541500
2025-01-01 -3.38345885276794430
2025-02-01 -19.35483932495117200
2025-03-01 -22.99270057678222700
2025-04-01 -22.14022064208984400
2025-05-01 -16.09195327758789000
2025-06-01 -16.60079002380371000
2025-07-01 -16.66666603088379000
2025-08-01 6.04838705062866200
2025-09-01 -34.66135406494140600
2025-10-01 -41.33858489990234400
2025-11-01 -34.48275756835937500
2025-12-01 -27.59999847412109400
2026-01-01 -27.93522262573242200
2026-02-01 -12.39669418334961000
2026-03-01 -19.92187500000000000
2026-04-01 -14.39999961853027300
2026-05-01 -14.39999961853027300
2026-06-01 -11.48936176300048800
2026-07-01 -19.06779670715332000
2026-08-01 -22.36842155456543000

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