It is a single-question index with no stated weights; each firm counts equally, and 10 sibling indexes appear alongside it. None of the indexes feeds into any other.
- General activity: the headline gauge of overall business conditions.
- Shipments and unfilled orders: what shipped versus orders still on the books.
- Delivery times and inventories: how fast inputs arrive and how stocks stand.
- Prices paid and received: input costs versus selling prices.
- Employment, hours, and capital spending: headcount, the average workweek, and investment plans, the last for future expectations only.
- Special questions: rotating topics such as price expectations, wages, and capacity use.
On April 16, 2020, current New Orders fell to -70.9, its lowest reading ever, with 0.0% reporting higher orders, 28.1% no change, and 70.9% lower. Future New Orders held steady at 36.5 on 54.7% expecting higher orders, while future general activity rose to 43.0.
Separate questions can therefore point in opposite directions. The episode shows breadth, not size: -70.9 meant contraction was near universal, not that orders fell 70.9%. Two months earlier, February 2020 read 33.6, its highest since May 2018, before the March to April collapse.
