Table Data - Chicago Fed Survey of Economic Conditions: Nonlabor Costs Index in Federal Reserve District 7: Chicago

Title Chicago Fed Survey of Economic Conditions: Nonlabor Costs Index in Federal Reserve District 7: Chicago
Series ID CFSBCNONLABORCOSTS
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 5.71428585052490200
2013-03-01 -3.17645645141601560
2013-04-01 -17.32276916503906200
2013-05-01 -35.45454406738281000
2013-06-01 -28.99004936218261700
2013-07-01 -28.93773651123047000
2013-08-01 -35.29411697387695000
2013-09-01 -36.16430664062500000
2013-10-01 -33.26404953002930000
2013-11-01 -26.39999961853027300
2013-12-01 -10.58012390136718800
2014-01-01 -5.08979225158691400
2014-02-01 -11.18012428283691400
2014-03-01 -27.67253875732422000
2014-04-01 -20.71108245849609400
2014-05-01 12.06030082702636700
2014-06-01 8.05870532989502000
2014-07-01 5.58608913421630900
2014-08-01 4.47761201858520500
2014-09-01 -2.66590738296508800
2014-10-01 -6.94790458679199200
2014-11-01 -8.65384578704834000
2014-12-01 -3.01003336906433100
2015-01-01 0.40257647633552550
2015-02-01 1.23456788063049320
2015-03-01 -7.78636026382446300
2015-04-01 -11.98565959930420000
2015-05-01 -10.07462692260742200
2015-06-01 -12.32550144195556600
2015-07-01 -17.35749435424804700
2015-08-01 -25.50607299804687500
2015-09-01 -31.42279052734375000
2015-10-01 -30.30983924865722700
2015-11-01 -22.09302330017090000
2015-12-01 -15.86510848999023400
2016-01-01 -19.52791595458984400
2016-02-01 -33.96226501464844000
2016-03-01 -17.23867607116699200
2016-04-01 -11.15164375305175800
2016-05-01 -17.43119239807129000
2016-06-01 -12.74412631988525400
2016-07-01 -10.55383014678955000
2016-08-01 -10.71428585052490200
2016-09-01 -5.52909660339355500
2016-10-01 2.12070250511169430
2016-11-01 12.74509811401367200
2016-12-01 18.73323631286621000
2017-01-01 19.25253486633300800
2017-02-01 13.72549057006836000
2017-03-01 1.09498357772827150
2017-04-01 -8.53368759155273400
2017-05-01 -13.35616397857666000
2017-06-01 -5.04293727874755900
2017-07-01 -1.04600369930267330
2017-08-01 -1.09890115261077880
2017-09-01 -1.10436654090881350
2017-10-01 -2.22824263572692870
2017-11-01 -4.54545450210571300
2017-12-01 10.51383495330810500
2018-01-01 17.42724609375000000
2018-02-01 15.11627864837646500
2018-03-01 13.28903675079345700
2018-04-01 14.65677261352539000
2018-05-01 19.48052024841308600
2018-06-01 15.17739486694336000
2018-07-01 23.46045112609863300
2018-08-01 44.88188934326172000
2018-09-01 27.86860084533691400
2018-10-01 22.58422470092773400
2018-11-01 28.67647171020507800
2018-12-01 16.10985946655273400
2019-01-01 5.98161172866821300
2019-02-01 -1.09890115261077880
2019-03-01 1.04122281074523930
2019-04-01 -1.57936906814575200
2019-05-01 -9.26640892028808600
2019-06-01 -8.57152748107910200
2019-07-01 -7.06069993972778300
2019-08-01 -4.63320446014404300
2019-09-01 -16.11654853820800800
2019-10-01 -26.83398056030273400
2019-11-01 -37.50000000000000000
2019-12-01 -36.24333953857422000
2020-01-01 -34.66007232666015600
2020-02-01 -32.77310943603515600
2020-03-01 -47.85452270507812500
2020-04-01 -77.73722076416016000
2020-05-01 -67.24600219726562000
2020-06-01 -55.87784576416015600
2020-07-01 -53.32858276367187500
2020-08-01 -54.87512969970703000
2020-09-01 -47.43343353271484400
2020-10-01 -44.94368743896484400
2020-11-01 -38.81804656982422000
2020-12-01 -31.20314979553222700
2021-01-01 -24.21290206909179700
2021-02-01 -7.72935724258422850
2021-03-01 -2.04274296760559100
2021-04-01 3.97084045410156250
2021-05-01 6.36118602752685550
2021-06-01 15.64900207519531200
2021-07-01 17.21200942993164000
2021-08-01 16.52727890014648400
2021-09-01 14.53228855133056600
2021-10-01 17.72465324401855500
2021-11-01 22.75217819213867200
2021-12-01 16.48803329467773400
2022-01-01 21.58916664123535000
2022-02-01 25.10040473937988300
2022-03-01 34.47324371337890600
2022-04-01 34.09340667724609400
2022-05-01 29.95834922790527300
2022-06-01 41.01708221435547000
2022-07-01 30.81238555908203000
2022-08-01 14.49603271484375000
2022-09-01 7.33896255493164100
2022-10-01 -0.28764715790748596
2022-11-01 -6.70423030853271500
2022-12-01 -1.18110239505767820
2023-01-01 7.83582067489624000
2023-02-01 -2.12014126777648930
2023-03-01 -11.70212745666503900
2023-04-01 -6.45161294937133800
2023-05-01 -7.47330999374389650
2023-06-01 -8.54092502593994100
2023-07-01 -27.17391395568847700
2023-08-01 -23.82671356201172000
2023-09-01 -19.01408576965332000
2023-10-01 1.09890115261077880
2023-11-01 -14.00778293609619100
2023-12-01 -24.48979759216308600
2024-01-01 -10.58823490142822300
2024-02-01 -8.23529434204101600
2024-03-01 -19.23077011108398400
2024-04-01 -9.90566062927246100
2024-05-01 -30.55555534362793000
2024-06-01 -27.27272796630859400
2024-07-01 -25.30120468139648400
2024-08-01 -41.29554367065430000
2024-09-01 -37.34939575195312500
2024-10-01 -45.76271438598633000
2024-11-01 -28.94736862182617200
2024-12-01 -28.20512771606445300
2025-01-01 -34.32203674316406000
2025-02-01 -32.39999771118164000
2025-03-01 -35.65573501586914000
2025-04-01 -22.13114738464355500
2025-05-01 -24.67532539367675800
2025-06-01 -29.46428680419922000
2025-07-01 -31.36363601684570300
2025-08-01 -5.38116550445556600
2025-09-01 -20.17937088012695300
2025-10-01 -14.73214340209961000
2025-11-01 -30.53097152709961000
2025-12-01 -33.64485931396484400
2026-01-01 -15.86538410186767600
2026-02-01 -28.21782112121582000
2026-03-01 -12.61682224273681600
2026-04-01 2.87081360816955570
2026-05-01 1.45985400676727300

Back to Top