United States Chicago Fed National Activity Index

Last Release

Mar 31, 2024

Actual

0.15

Units In

Points

0.09

Frequency

Monthly

Next Release

May 23, 2024

Time to Release

30 Days 4 Hours

Highest	Lowest	Average	Date Range	Source
6.01 Jun 2020	-17.79 Apr 2020	0 Points	1967-2024	Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) is designed to gauge overall economic activity and related inflationary pressure. The CFNAI is based on a weighted average of 85 existing monthly indicators of national economic activity. It has an average value of zero and a standard deviation of one. Since economic activity tends toward trend growth rate over time, a positive reading corresponds to growth above trend and a negative reading corresponds to growth below trend.

Latest Updates

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index rose to +0.15 in March 2024 from an upwardly revised +0.09 in February, slightly exceeding market expectations of +0.09. It marked the highest reading since last November, with employment-related indicators contributing +0.04 to the CFNAI (up from -0.01 in February), while the sales, orders, and inventories category made a neutral contribution (up from -0.05). Additionally, production-related indicators added +0.11 to the CFNAI, although this was slightly lower than the +0.13 recorded the previous month. The contribution from the personal consumption and housing category was -0.01, also below February's +0.02.