Business Outlook Survey
The Business Outlook Survey is a monthly survey of manufacturers in the Third Federal Reserve District. Participants indicate the direction of change in overall business activity and in the various measures of activity at their plants: employment, working hours, new and unfilled orders, shipments inventories, delivery times, prices paid, and prices received. The survey has been conducted each month since May 1968.
Questions regarding the Business Outlook Survey and its historical data can be addressed to Mike Trebing.
Recent Releases
2008
- May 2008 | audio of an interview
- April 2008 | audio of press conference
- March 2008 | audio of press conference
- February 2008 | audio of press conference
- January 2008 | audio of press conference
- Revised Historical Data
2007
- December 2007 | audio of press conference
- November 2007 | audio of press conference
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- Revised Historical Data
Digest of Original Releases (plain text format)
- 2007 Digest
- 2006 Digest
- 2005 Digest
- 2004 Digest
- 2003 Digest
- 2002 Digest
- 2001 Digest
- 2000 Digest
- 1999 Digest
Resources
- 2007-2008 Release Calendar
- Historical Data Page: Historical monthly data for all of the Business Outlook Survey diffusion indexes and aggregate proportions series (percentage of firms reporting increases, decreases, and no change) are available from May 1968 to the most current release month. The survey's annual historical revisions, which incorporated new seasonal adjustment factors, were released on January 11, 2007, at noon EST (see press release and details).
- Useful background information about the survey was published in the Business Review: September/October 1998 and Fourth Quarter 2003.
- Sample Business Outlook Survey Questionnaire (PDF, 30 KB, 1 page)
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