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 2026-09-01
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 -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 -2.13151907920000000
2013-10-01 -1.95546424390000000
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 21.68372344970000000
2015-02-01 15.53784942630000000
2015-03-01 8.54268932340000000
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 -14.94943809510000000
2015-10-01 -14.12139892580000000
2015-11-01 -6.69145011901855500
2015-12-01 -2.32746100430000000
2016-01-01 0.29114907980000000
2016-02-01 0.89285713430000000
2016-03-01 5.20510101320000000
2016-04-01 0.98641234640000000
2016-05-01 -12.20930290220000000
2016-06-01 -15.58644294740000000
2016-07-01 -13.73842811580000000
2016-08-01 -6.54205608370000000
2016-09-01 1.80517363550000000
2016-10-01 2.06319236760000000
2016-11-01 -5.75079870223999000
2016-12-01 0.52426630260000000
2017-01-01 5.98200893400000000
2017-02-01 10.34482765200000000
2017-03-01 12.99929142000000000
2017-04-01 11.31676292420000000
2017-05-01 4.91803312300000000
2017-06-01 -4.34258508680000000
2017-07-01 -6.63764190670000000
2017-08-01 -2.12014126780000000
2017-09-01 -0.69135040040000000
2017-10-01 -1.06332695480000000
2017-11-01 -3.26086950302124020
2017-12-01 6.33861017227172850
2018-01-01 15.38739681243896500
2018-02-01 23.50746154785156200
2018-03-01 20.52677726750000000
2018-04-01 17.11333465580000000
2018-05-01 13.69294548034668000
2018-06-01 5.97950220108032200
2018-07-01 5.16463851930000000
2018-08-01 11.19402980800000000
2018-09-01 1.56596004960000000
2018-10-01 -4.12941169740000000
2018-11-01 -6.27177715301513700
2018-12-01 -11.83537769320000000
2019-01-01 -11.33911609650000000
2019-02-01 -4.18118476867675800
2019-03-01 -11.49825859070000000
2019-04-01 -10.80507469180000000
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 -10.80682277680000000
2019-11-01 6.29370594020000000
2019-12-01 14.32811832430000000
2020-01-01 15.63695144650000000
2020-02-01 9.48616600040000000
2020-03-01 -48.91304397583008000
2020-04-01 -34.80134963989258000
2020-05-01 -16.00931358337402300
2020-06-01 -12.59508895874023400
2020-07-01 -14.49767398830000000
2020-08-01 -14.57373237610000000
2020-09-01 -6.33204650880000000
2020-10-01 4.10426187520000000
2020-11-01 8.73334884640000000
2020-12-01 15.52728843688964800
2021-01-01 16.81779289245605500
2021-02-01 15.71592712402343800
2021-03-01 25.27122116088867200
2021-04-01 31.76671409610000000
2021-05-01 36.52153396610000000
2021-06-01 35.80644989010000000
2021-07-01 32.81990814210000000
2021-08-01 35.37377548220000000
2021-09-01 27.18831634520000000
2021-10-01 15.29375171661377000
2021-11-01 16.57688140870000000
2021-12-01 14.34066009520000000
2022-01-01 12.18660259250000000
2022-02-01 18.03379058840000000
2022-03-01 15.97634887700000000
2022-04-01 16.51844787600000000
2022-05-01 11.91780185700000000
2022-06-01 1.32035362720000000
2022-07-01 -3.28970241546630860
2022-08-01 -8.53953075410000000
2022-09-01 -3.48353862760000000
2022-10-01 -7.04519414901733400
2022-11-01 -17.98912048339843800
2022-12-01 -6.18556690220000000
2023-01-01 -11.42857170100000000
2023-02-01 -5.45454549789428700
2023-03-01 -24.07407379150000000
2023-04-01 -25.16128921508789000
2023-05-01 -13.59223270416259800
2023-06-01 -28.39116859436035000
2023-07-01 -24.52830123900000000
2023-08-01 -27.01863288880000000
2023-09-01 -22.08588981628418000
2023-10-01 -26.91029739379882800
2023-11-01 -31.80212020874023400
2023-12-01 -3.35820889470000000
2024-01-01 -11.57894706730000000
2024-02-01 1.02040815353393550
2024-03-01 -13.92857074740000000
2024-04-01 -3.38345885276794430
2024-05-01 -33.33333206176758000
2024-06-01 -33.58208847045898400
2024-07-01 -11.82795715330000000
2024-08-01 -20.28469848632812500
2024-09-01 -13.40206146240000000
2024-10-01 -10.75268840789795000
2024-11-01 -19.10112380980000000
2024-12-01 -2.26415085792541500
2025-01-01 -4.51127815250000000
2025-02-01 -19.35483932495117200
2025-03-01 -21.89780998230000000
2025-04-01 -21.03320884700000000
2025-05-01 -17.24137878420000000
2025-06-01 -17.78656005860000000
2025-07-01 -16.66666603088379000
2025-08-01 4.83870983120000000
2025-09-01 -35.85657501220000000
2025-10-01 -41.33858489990234400
2025-11-01 -34.48275756835937500
2025-12-01 -27.49003982540000000
2026-01-01 -27.82258224490000000
2026-02-01 -13.58024692540000000
2026-03-01 -19.92187500000000000
2026-04-01 -14.39999961853027300
2026-05-01 -15.53784942630000000
2026-06-01 -11.44067859650000000
2026-07-01 -20.25316429140000000
2026-08-01 -24.10714340210000000
2026-09-01 -7.89473676680000000

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