Table Data - Chicago Fed Survey of Economic Conditions: 12 month Outlook for the US Economy in Federal Reserve District 7: Chicago

Title Chicago Fed Survey of Economic Conditions: 12 month Outlook for the US Economy in Federal Reserve District 7: Chicago
Series ID CFSBCOUTLOOK
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 2026-07-01
Last Updated 2026-07-22 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 13.3333330154418950
2013-03-01 29.2198562622070300
2013-04-01 34.7517700195312500
2013-05-01 27.6595745086669920
2013-06-01 28.6752223968505860
2013-07-01 19.6557960510253900
2013-08-01 0.0000000000000000
2013-09-01 13.9430284500122070
2013-10-01 15.2387380599975590
2013-11-01 3.9735100269317627
2013-12-01 21.6219711303710940
2014-01-01 29.6215763092041000
2014-02-01 26.7015705108642580
2014-03-01 33.1230430603027340
2014-04-01 41.8799018859863300
2014-05-01 52.0547943115234400
2014-06-01 35.6079292297363300
2014-07-01 33.6159133911132800
2014-08-01 45.9459457397460940
2014-09-01 48.2034416198730500
2014-10-01 49.3080215454101560
2014-11-01 49.3333320617675800
2014-12-01 65.2291336059570300
2015-01-01 62.2233085632324200
2015-02-01 38.4905662536621100
2015-03-01 37.2614746093750000
2015-04-01 32.5360260009765600
2015-05-01 24.4897956848144530
2015-06-01 45.7545547485351560
2015-07-01 51.7952880859375000
2015-08-01 43.0147056579589840
2015-09-01 32.1994705200195300
2015-10-01 22.3357486724853500
2015-11-01 12.7659578323364260
2015-12-01 28.4354114532470700
2016-01-01 27.2890644073486330
2016-02-01 7.6487255096435550
2016-03-01 27.5989017486572270
2016-04-01 29.6698493957519530
2016-05-01 11.7977533340454100
2016-06-01 3.8470935821533203
2016-07-01 9.8990688323974610
2016-08-01 30.3571434020996100
2016-09-01 27.2637004852294920
2016-10-01 22.7005996704101560
2016-11-01 16.3636360168457030
2016-12-01 34.5880203247070300
2017-01-01 45.6757240295410160
2017-02-01 48.5029945373535160
2017-03-01 49.3577308654785160
2017-04-01 44.7932701110839840
2017-05-01 34.6875000000000000
2017-06-01 44.5882110595703100
2017-07-01 43.7118530273437500
2017-08-01 32.0000000000000000
2017-09-01 40.5600357055664060
2017-10-01 48.4885139465332000
2017-11-01 56.3139953613281250
2017-12-01 68.1808242797851600
2018-01-01 68.7485961914062500
2018-02-01 56.8421058654785160
2018-03-01 44.5334930419921900
2018-04-01 39.1732292175293000
2018-05-01 42.5196876525878900
2018-06-01 22.4682617187500000
2018-07-01 22.3814678192138670
2018-08-01 42.2535209655761700
2018-09-01 27.4739742279052730
2018-10-01 23.2864437103271500
2018-11-01 29.4117641448974600
2018-12-01 7.7768602371215820
2019-01-01 1.3649471998214722
2019-02-01 11.9601325988769530
2019-03-01 22.4081077575683600
2019-04-01 19.9393272399902340
2019-05-01 3.0612244606018066
2019-06-01 21.2855720520019530
2019-07-01 21.3170948028564450
2019-08-01 3.1578948497772217
2019-09-01 2.4240512847900390
2019-10-01 7.4040970802307130
2019-11-01 18.4300346374511720
2019-12-01 34.7558135986328100
2020-01-01 39.4351425170898440
2020-02-01 31.1111106872558600
2020-03-01 -70.6484680175781200
2020-04-01 -37.5563774108886700
2020-05-01 9.1977033615112300
2020-06-01 32.9311637878418000
2020-07-01 42.6192474365234400
2020-08-01 40.1993217468261700
2020-09-01 33.5883636474609400
2020-10-01 33.0219001770019500
2020-11-01 31.7108955383300780
2020-12-01 44.4519271850585940
2021-01-01 56.2083969116210940
2021-02-01 58.6964225769043000
2021-03-01 67.1547088623046900
2021-04-01 64.9886016845703100
2021-05-01 75.5359649658203100
2021-06-01 76.5954971313476600
2021-07-01 62.2238845825195300
2021-08-01 50.7888526916503900
2021-09-01 32.0310211181640600
2021-10-01 28.3789291381835940
2021-11-01 32.7380943298339840
2021-12-01 28.4292564392089840
2022-01-01 27.4187068939209000
2022-02-01 12.6460447311401370
2022-03-01 -0.5583127140998840
2022-04-01 -17.5069293975830080
2022-05-01 -42.1580657958984400
2022-06-01 -56.7166633605957000
2022-07-01 -61.9112701416015600
2022-08-01 -56.8920593261718750
2022-09-01 -63.5584259033203100
2022-10-01 -65.6423492431640600
2022-11-01 -58.7802581787109400
2022-12-01 -47.7707023620605500
2023-01-01 -51.9061584472656250
2023-02-01 -34.9030456542968750
2023-03-01 -40.6779670715332000
2023-04-01 -57.7259445190429700
2023-05-01 -55.4252204895019500
2023-06-01 -43.3526000976562500
2023-07-01 -19.2419815063476560
2023-08-01 -36.4161834716796900
2023-09-01 -39.5415458679199200
2023-10-01 -44.1717796325683600
2023-11-01 -32.7974281311035160
2023-12-01 -14.1891899108886720
2024-01-01 -10.5431308746337890
2024-02-01 7.6923074722290040
2024-03-01 13.2203388214111330
2024-04-01 -2.1352312564849854
2024-05-01 -9.4405593872070310
2024-06-01 -10.2389078140258790
2024-07-01 5.9800662994384770
2024-08-01 -7.0469799041748050
2024-09-01 -0.9554140567779541
2024-10-01 9.8039216995239260
2024-11-01 19.0635452270507800
2024-12-01 41.5540542602539060
2025-01-01 23.0769233703613280
2025-02-01 3.7500000000000000
2025-03-01 -39.3750000000000000
2025-04-01 -61.1464996337890600
2025-05-01 -25.5972709655761720
2025-06-01 -38.4341659545898440
2025-07-01 -2.1428570747375490
2025-08-01 -1.0948904752731323
2025-09-01 -29.6703300476074220
2025-10-01 -11.9565219879150390
2025-11-01 -3.1578948497772217
2025-12-01 2.1897809505462646
2026-01-01 12.2222223281860350
2026-02-01 15.7894744873046880
2026-03-01 -8.6021509170532230
2026-04-01 0.0000000000000000
2026-05-01 0.0000000000000000
2026-06-01 20.0787410736084000
2026-07-01 2.3529412746429443

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