Definitions

NBOS Data Definitions

Survey respondents indicate whether they’ve seen an increase (survey response of slightly or significantly higher), decrease (survey response of slightly or significantly lower), or no change (survey response of same) in the variables below. Most survey questions ask for assessments of business activity for this month compared with last month (current). For general activity in the region and at the firm level, respondents also provide their expectations of business activity for six months from now compared with this month (future).

General Activity in Region (garbn)

Level of overall business activity in the area where the responding firm is located

Future General Activity in Region (garfbn)

Expected level of overall business activity in the area where the responding firm is located

General Activity at Firm (gabn)

Level of overall business activity for the responding firm

Future General Activity at Firm (gafbn)

Expected level of overall business activity for the responding firm

New Orders (nobn)

Orders that have been placed by customers (does not account for order fulfillment)

Sales or Revenues (srbn)

Sales made or revenue recorded by the responding firm

Unfilled Orders (uobn)

Orders that customers have placed that the firm has not yet delivered

Inventories (ivbn)

Product stock on hand

Prices Paid (ppbn)

Prices that the firm paid for input materials

Prices Received (prbn)

Prices that the firm charged customers

Number of Employees – Full-Time Permanent (nfbn)

People employed by the firm in full-time permanent positions

Number of Employees – Part-Time, Temporary, and Contract (npbn)

People employed by the firm in part-time, temporary, and contract positions

Average Employee Workweek (awbn)

Average number of hours worked per week

Wage and Benefit Costs (wbbn)

Costs paid by the firm for employee wages and benefits

Capital Expenditures – Physical Plant (cpbn)

Spending on capital investments for physical structures

Capital Expenditures – Equipment & Software (cebn)

Spending on capital investments for equipment and software

Column Names in Data File

In the data file, the column names incorporate the following elements:

• Variable: Abbreviations listed above (e.g., garbn)
• Percentage of respondents that reported an increase (inc), decrease (dec), or no change (nc)
• “dif” denotes a column in which data are presented as a diffusion index (percent increase minus percent decrease)
• “_sa” denotes a column in which data are seasonally adjusted (not seasonally adjusted otherwise)

For example, the garbninc column represents the percentage of respondents reporting increasing current general activity in the region (garbn + inc), and the garbndif_sa column represents the seasonally adjusted diffusion index for current general activity in the region.