Federal Reserve Economic Data

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 2025-12-01
Last Updated 2025-12-22 9:05 AM CST
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 36.1702117919921900
2013-05-01 31.9148941040039060
2013-06-01 30.0628280639648440
2013-07-01 19.6557960510253900
2013-08-01 0.0000000000000000
2013-09-01 16.7316341400146500
2013-10-01 18.0273437500000000
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 37.9457359313964840
2015-04-01 33.9331436157226560
2015-05-01 26.5306129455566400
2015-06-01 46.4200401306152340
2015-07-01 52.1549415588378900
2015-08-01 44.1176490783691400
2015-09-01 32.5591239929199200
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 28.6355438232421880
2016-04-01 30.4613380432128900
2016-05-01 10.9550561904907230
2016-06-01 2.9845860004425050
2016-07-01 9.6025028228759770
2016-08-01 31.2500000000000000
2016-09-01 28.1750125885009770
2016-10-01 23.6172065734863280
2016-11-01 17.2727279663085940
2016-12-01 34.9042243957519500
2017-01-01 45.6757240295410160
2017-02-01 48.5029945373535160
2017-03-01 49.9451446533203100
2017-04-01 45.7211532592773440
2017-05-01 35.6250000000000000
2017-06-01 44.8939170837402340
2017-07-01 44.0379409790039060
2017-08-01 33.0000000000000000
2017-09-01 41.5555725097656250
2017-10-01 48.8240852355957000
2017-11-01 55.2901039123535160
2017-12-01 68.4640808105468800
2018-01-01 69.7525482177734400
2018-02-01 57.8947372436523440
2018-03-01 44.9162673950195300
2018-04-01 39.5669288635253900
2018-05-01 43.7007904052734400
2018-06-01 22.8534030914306640
2018-07-01 22.3814678192138670
2018-08-01 42.2535209655761700
2018-09-01 27.4739742279052730
2018-10-01 23.6061382293701170
2018-11-01 30.3921566009521500
2018-12-01 8.7311954498291020
2019-01-01 1.9987212419509888
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 39.4529914855957000
2020-09-01 32.8171539306640600
2020-10-01 33.0219001770019500
2020-11-01 31.7108955383300780
2020-12-01 44.4519271850585940
2021-01-01 56.2083969116210940
2021-02-01 59.1440963745117200
2021-03-01 67.5860137939453100
2021-04-01 65.8814544677734400
2021-05-01 76.4576263427734400
2021-06-01 76.5954971313476600
2021-07-01 62.2238845825195300
2021-08-01 51.2647933959960940
2021-09-01 33.4721946716308600
2021-10-01 29.3589210510253900
2021-11-01 34.3452377319335940
2021-12-01 31.1177577972412100
2022-01-01 30.7079677581787100
2022-02-01 16.8089084625244140
2022-03-01 3.7531015872955322
2022-04-01 -12.8508319854736330
2022-05-01 -39.0083808898925800
2022-06-01 -54.9998397827148440
2022-07-01 -60.5880813598632800
2022-08-01 -54.6889190673828100
2022-09-01 -61.3167419433593750
2022-10-01 -65.1882781982421900
2022-11-01 -58.7802581787109400
2022-12-01 -45.8598747253418000
2023-01-01 -48.3870964050293000
2023-02-01 -32.4099731445312500
2023-03-01 -38.1355934143066400
2023-04-01 -56.8513107299804700
2023-05-01 -52.7859268188476560
2023-06-01 -39.8843917846679700
2023-07-01 -15.7434396743774410
2023-08-01 -34.6820793151855500
2023-09-01 -36.9627494812011700
2023-10-01 -45.0920257568359400
2023-11-01 -30.8681678771972660
2023-12-01 -14.1891899108886720
2024-01-01 -7.6677312850952150
2024-02-01 13.4615383148193360
2024-03-01 18.3050842285156250
2024-04-01 0.0000000000000000
2024-05-01 -6.2937059402465820
2024-06-01 -10.2389078140258790
2024-07-01 11.9601325988769530
2024-08-01 -4.0268454551696780
2024-09-01 2.8662421703338623
2024-10-01 12.7450981140136720
2024-11-01 25.0836124420166000
2024-12-01 42.5675697326660160
2025-01-01 26.0869579315185550
2025-02-01 6.5830717086791990
2025-03-01 -34.7962379455566400
2025-04-01 -55.7692298889160160
2025-05-01 -23.6301364898681640
2025-06-01 -35.3571434020996100
2025-07-01 -1.0752688646316528
2025-08-01 4.3956046104431150
2025-09-01 -25.3676471710205080
2025-10-01 -7.6086955070495605
2025-11-01 4.2402825355529785
2025-12-01 6.2176165580749510

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