Diffusion indexes of state and metropolitan area employment changes

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes eight diffusion index series that measure the dispersion of employment change across either all 50 states and the District of Columbia or 389 metropolitan statistical areas. These data provide a tool for analysis of employment changes and additional information about the labor market. This article explains how the diffusion indexes are calculated, examines the differences between the indexes, and describes how the data are interpreted and how the data respond during economic turning points and the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. The Current Employment Statistics (CES) program has long used diffusion indexes to measure the dispersion of employment change across industries within both the private sector and the manufacturing sector over a specified timeframe. In July 2020, the U.S.