I haven't posted this in a few months.



The BLS diffusion index for total private employment was at 61.0 in January, down from 66.3 in December.



For manufacturing, the diffusion index was at 59.9, down from 63.2 in December.



Note: Any reading above 60 is very good.



Think of this as a measure of how widespread job gains are across industries. The further from 50 (above or below), the more widespread the job losses or gains reported by the BLS. From the BLS:



Figures are the percent of industries with employment increasing plus one-half of the industries with unchanged employment, where 50 percent indicates an equal balance between industries with increasing and decreasing employment.