The Economy & the Fed

Diffusion Index

A survey measure of how widespread a change is, not how big: the percentage of respondents reporting an increase minus the percentage reporting a decrease. On the New York and Philadelphia Fed surveys it runs from −100 to +100, with zero the dividing line between more firms improving and more declining. The national ISM surveys use a different form centred on 50. A reading tells you breadth, so a small rise reported by many firms scores higher than a big rise at a few.

Educational information, not investment advice. See it applied across the screener →