The FRED® Blog| fredblog.stlouisfed.org
In a previous FRED blog post, we discussed the Summary of Economic Projections (SEP) released by the FOMC this past June. In this blog post, we will again use ALFRED to compare the latest projections released in September 2025 with several of the recent projections for the following variables:| fredblog.stlouisfed.org
In a previous FRED blog post, we discussed the Summary of Economic Projections (SEP) released by the FOMC this past June. In this blog post, we will again use ALFRED to compare the latest projections released in September 2025 with … Continue reading →| FRED Blog
During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many credit card holders improved their repayment histories and enjoyed a noticeable boost in credit scores. However, research by Juan M. Sánchez and Masataka Mori at the St. Louis Fed has underscored the … Continue reading →| FRED Blog
Visit any data series page in FRED and you’ll see a “Notes” section below the graph. The metadata there provide details that help tell the story behind the numbers. Arguably, the single most important metadata are the data units. Our … Continue reading →| FRED Blog
The labor force participation rate (LFPR)—the percentage of civilians employed or actively seeking work—has declined since the turn of the century as shown in our first FRED graph above. Previously, total LFPR had risen after an increase in women entering the workforce and a corresponding but smaller drop in men’s LFPR. Since 1990, women’s LFPR has stabilized but men’s LFPR has continued to decline at an average rate of 2.7 percentage points per decade.| FRED Blog
The FRED Blog has discussed the relationship between single-family housing starts and completions and also how changes in overall housing market prices are measured. Today we build on the topic of housing by comparing trends in the type of residential constructions erected.| FRED Blog
Every month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) releases data on total nonfarm employment in two forms: seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted.| fredblog.stlouisfed.org
The value of the US dollar can influence trade flows by changing the relative prices of exports and imports. A stronger dollar tends to make imports cheaper for Americans and US goods more expensive abroad, which can put upward pressure … Continue reading →| FRED Blog
Does it always feel like your flight is full? It makes sense that more people experience full flights because there are, by definition, fewer people on less-crowded flights. The other reason is that, yes, flights are indeed mostly full. Our … Continue reading →| FRED Blog
Every month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) releases data on total nonfarm employment in two forms: seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted. Seasonally adjusted (SA) employment data have had the effects of seasonal changes removed, such as the typical … Continue reading →| FRED Blog
The FRED Blog has discussed the dwindling supply of multifamily dwellings with 2 to 4 units. This trend even has its own name: the “missing middle.” Today, we tap into newly added data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia to offer additional insights into this segment of the housing market.| FRED Blog
Every month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) releases data on total nonfarm employment in two forms: seasonally adjusted and not seasonally adjusted.| fredblog.stlouisfed.org
The FRED Blog has discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the participation of different groups of workers in the US labor force. Many workers in the later stages of their careers left the labor force, taking early retirement. This phenomenon … Continue reading →| FRED Blog
As students head back to school, families will once again open their wallets to buy school supplies. As many families budget for the school season, so do federal, state, and local governments. The FRED graph above shows the share of … Continue reading →| FRED Blog
The industrial production (IP) index is a popular metric of economic activity because it’s available relatively quickly. This monthly data series covers only a part of economic activity, however. In particular, it misses the service sector and the government sector. The graph above shows its evolution since 1972 along with a subcomponent that covers only manufacturing. Note that the index is set at 100 in 2012, meaning that all the indexes will always cross in 2012. A particularly healthy s...| FRED Blog
The FRED® Blog| fredblog.stlouisfed.org
FRED recently added two new personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index data series from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis: one excluding the energy and housing categories from the all-items PCE price index and a second one excluding the food, energy, and housing categories. These series are timely additions to FRED’s substantial repository of measures of trend inflation.| fredblog.stlouisfed.org
Many households have been financially distressed during the COVID-19 pandemic, struggling to pay for necessities such as rent and groceries. It may seem surprising, then, that the aggregate personal saving rate has actually increased since the start of the pandemic.| FRED Blog
The FRED® Blog| fredblog.stlouisfed.org
Previous FRED Blog posts have discussed how to measure economic and financial uncertainty. Some measures are based on news coverage from a large set of U.S. newspapers, and others are calculated using the prices of financial derivatives. Today, we measure interest rate uncertainty based on daily financial data.| FRED Blog
Tariffs and trade policy have been in the news for months, so today we’re looking at how tariffs have changed over time and the role they play in generating revenue.| FRED Blog
Each quarter, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System releases the Financial Accounts of the United States (Z.1 tables). They include data on transactions and levels of financial assets and liabilities, by sector and financial instrument; and full balance sheets, including net worth, for households and nonprofit organizations, nonfinancial corporate businesses, and nonfinancial noncorporate businesses.| FRED Blog
Disposable income and spending growth tend to follow similar long-term trends, as shown in our FRED graph above. Over the past 15 years, real disposable personal income growth and real personal consumption expenditures growth have averaged just over 2.5% year-over-year.| FRED Blog
Recent research has linked macroeconomic shocks with household financial distress. For instance, José Mustre-del-Río, Juan M. Sánchez, Ryan Mather, and Kartik Athreya show that regions with a higher share of credit card delinquency had more severe responses to macroeconomic shocks during the past two recessions. This post takes the topic a step further by exploring whether delinquency rates for households and businesses can help anticipate recessions.| fredblog.stlouisfed.org
In a previous FRED blog post, we discussed the Summary of Economic Projections (SEP) released by the FOMC this past March. In this blog post, we will again use ALFRED, the vintage data version of FRED, to compare the latest projections released in June 2025 with several of the recent projections through 2027 for the following variables:| FRED Blog
Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It’s different from mining and construction.| FRED Blog
Your credit report is a record of your credit history that includes information about your identity, outstanding balances and history of making payments, publicly available information, and inquiries made by organizations or individuals about your credit history. Your credit score is a number that reflects the information in your credit report. See this Consumer’s Guide from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve to learn more about it.| FRED Blog
Analysts can use several economic indicators to gauge a country’s health. One is the infant mortality rate, which is the number of deaths of infants under the age of one per 1000 live births. The FRED map above shows this rate across the world in 1970.| FRED Blog
Between 2019 and 2024, consumer prices in the US increased by 26% and the average weekly earnings of all private-sector employees rose by 28%. In other words, average earnings across the country grew 2% faster than nationwide inflation.| FRED Blog
Every quarter, FOMC meeting participants submit their projections of key economic indicators. The committee releases the Summary of Economic Projections (SEP), containing the median, central tendency, and range of these projections:| FRED Blog
Employer-to-employer (EE) transitions are when workers move from one job to another without being unemployed in between. EE transitions are important for the aggregate economy for several reasons.| FRED Blog
Two of the largest financial assets for US households are pensions and direct holdings of stocks.| FRED Blog
The FRED Blog has discussed research on personal finance topics such as credit card debt, credit scores, and wealth accumulation. Our question today is: What has driven the changes in household debt since the 1990s?| FRED Blog
In past posts, we’ve looked at movement in household assets such as pensions and direct holdings of stocks and household liabilities such as home mortgages and consumer credit. Today, we look at how unexpected inflation can affect the value of these household assets and liabilities.| FRED Blog
The FRED Blog has discussed how the increased popularity of video streaming over the internet gradually decreased employment in video tape and disc rental establishments. Today we explore a related topic: how consuming news over the internet has reduced employment in the print media industry.| FRED Blog
In the most recent FOMC press conference, on June 12, Chair Powell noted that the labor market “has come into better balance, with continued strong job gains and a low unemployment rate.”| FRED Blog
Background| FRED Blog