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 2026-05-01
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 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 22.7464084625244140
2014-01-01 30.7834968566894530
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 49.1526107788085940
2014-10-01 50.2571945190429700
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 32.8761596679687500
2015-05-01 25.5102043151855470
2015-06-01 46.0872993469238300
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 29.0506687164306640
2016-01-01 27.9248294830322270
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 27.8838653564453120
2016-10-01 23.3207645416259770
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 45.1057701110839840
2017-05-01 35.6250000000000000
2017-06-01 45.5217895507812500
2017-07-01 44.6658096313476560
2017-08-01 33.0000000000000000
2017-09-01 40.8861236572265600
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 1.0297483205795288
2019-10-01 6.0097937583923340
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 77.0642471313476600
2021-07-01 62.7077560424804700
2021-08-01 51.2647933959960940
2021-09-01 32.9975128173828100
2021-10-01 29.3169536590576170
2021-11-01 34.2724838256835940
2021-12-01 30.5647602081298830
2022-01-01 29.0646324157714840
2022-02-01 14.2018709182739260
2022-03-01 0.8995037674903870
2022-04-01 -16.1252593994140620
2022-05-01 -40.8157157897949200
2022-06-01 -55.8582496643066400
2022-07-01 -61.0343017578125000
2022-08-01 -55.5607566833496100
2022-09-01 -62.6575279235839840
2022-10-01 -65.6423492431640600
2022-11-01 -58.7802581787109400
2022-12-01 -46.8152885437011700
2023-01-01 -50.1466293334960940
2023-02-01 -34.0720214843750000
2023-03-01 -39.8305091857910160
2023-04-01 -57.7259445190429700
2023-05-01 -54.5454559326171900
2023-06-01 -41.6184959411621100
2023-07-01 -16.6180763244628900
2023-08-01 -34.6820793151855500
2023-09-01 -39.5415458679199200
2023-10-01 -43.2515335083007800
2023-11-01 -31.8327980041503900
2023-12-01 -11.1486492156982420
2024-01-01 -8.6261978149414060
2024-02-01 8.6538457870483400
2024-03-01 14.2372875213623050
2024-04-01 -1.0676156282424927
2024-05-01 -8.3916082382202150
2024-06-01 -9.2150173187255860
2024-07-01 7.9734215736389160
2024-08-01 -6.0402684211730960
2024-09-01 0.9554140567779541
2024-10-01 11.7647056579589840
2024-11-01 22.0735797882080080
2024-12-01 42.5675697326660160
2025-01-01 23.0769233703613280
2025-02-01 4.6875000000000000
2025-03-01 -37.5000000000000000
2025-04-01 -58.2802543640136700
2025-05-01 -23.5494880676269530
2025-06-01 -34.1637001037597660
2025-07-01 -1.0714285373687744
2025-08-01 1.0948904752731323
2025-09-01 -28.5714282989501950
2025-10-01 -8.6956520080566400
2025-11-01 0.0000000000000000
2025-12-01 3.2846715450286865
2026-01-01 14.4444446563720700
2026-02-01 18.1818180084228500
2026-03-01 -7.5812273025512695
2026-04-01 2.2471909523010254
2026-05-01 1.1428571939468384

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