Federal Reserve Economic Data

Last updated

Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) is a database maintained by the Research division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis that has more than 816,000 economic time series from various sources. [1] They cover banking, business/fiscal, consumer price indexes, employment and population, exchange rates, gross domestic product, interest rates, monetary aggregates, producer price indexes, reserves and monetary base, U.S. trade and international transactions, and U.S. financial data. The time series are compiled by the Federal Reserve and many are collected from government agencies such as the U.S. Census and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. [2]

Contents

Services

ALRED (Archival Reserve Economic Data) lets users retrieve vintage versions of economic data that were available on specific dates in history. The ALRED website states that “In general, economic data for past observation periods are revised as more accurate estimates become available. As a result, previous vintages of data can be superseded and may no longer be available from various data sources." It also says that "Vintage or real-time economic data allows academics to reproduce others’ research, build more accurate forecasting models and analyze economic policy decisions using the data available at the time.” [3]

GeoFRED is a data-mapping tool that displays FRED data series in color-coded form on the state, metropolitan statistical areas and county levels. [4]

CASSIDI is a data service that provides nationwide data on banking market structures and definitions, as well as banking markets for individual depository institutions. [5]

FRASER (The Federal Reserve Archival System for Economic Research) is a digital archive begun in 2004 to safeguard, preserve and provide easy access to the United States’ economic history—particularly the history of the Federal Reserve System—through digitization of documents related to the U.S. financial system. [6] Digitized documents include:

To create and maintain FRASER, the St. Louis Fed collaborated with the United States Government Printing Office, Federal Depository Library Program libraries and several university and public libraries. [7] [8]

St. Louis Fed Research also hosts IDEAS, [9] a bibliographic database drawn from Research Papers in Economics (RePEc), [10] which consists of economic research from more than one million academic articles and papers. As of March 2025, the IDEAS site states it has more 4,900,000 items of research that can be browsed or searched, and more than 4,500,000 that can be downloaded in full text. [9]

Usage

The economic data published on FRED are widely reported in the media and play a key role in financial markets. In a 2012 Business Insider article titled "The Most Amazing Economics Website in the World", Joe Weisenthal quoted Paul Krugman as saying: "I think just about everyone doing short-order research — trying to make sense of economic issues in more or less real time — has become a FRED fanatic." [11]

FRED economic indicators (partial list)

SERIESCATEGORYSUB-CATEGORYINDICATORPERIOD
TREAST FinanceMonetary DataUS Treasuries Held by the FedW
WSHOMCB FinanceMonetary DataMortgage Backed Sec Held by the FedW
WALCL BankingMonetary FactorsAll Fed Reserve Banks - Total AssetsW
TLAAC BankingMonetary FactorsAll Commercial Banks - Total AssetsW
BOPBCA (discontinued)BankingConditionsNumber of US BanksQ
USNUM (discontinued)BankingConditionsNumber of US Commercial BanksQ
EQTA (discontinued)BankingConditionsEquity/Asset RatioQ
TOTBKCR BankingCommercial CreditBank Credit of All Commercial BanksW
TOTALSEC BankingCommercial CreditSecuritized Total Consumer LoansM
TOTALSL BankingCommercial CreditTotal Consumer Credit OutstandingM
INVEST BankingInvestmentTotal Investments All Commercial BanksM
USGSEC BankingInvestmentUS Treasury and Agency Securities

at All Commercial Banks

M
CONSUMER BankingLoansTotal Consumer LoansM
BUSLOANS BankingLoansTotal Commercial/Industrial LoansM
DALLCACBEP BankingDelinquenciesDelinquencies On All Loans And LeasesM
T10Y2Y BankingInterest RatesUS 10-YR / 2-YR SpreadW
TB3MS BankingInterest Rates3-Month T-Bill: Secondary Market RateW
DGS10 BankingInterest Rates10-Yr Treasury Const. Maturity RateW
GFDEBTN Business/FiscalFederal Government Federal Government Debt (Public) Y
FYOINT Business/FiscalFederal GovernmentInterest on National DebtY
FYONET Business/FiscalFederal GovernmentFederal SpendingY
FYFR Business/FiscalFederal GovernmentFederal ReceiptsY
FYFSD Business/FiscalFederal Government Budget Deficit/Surplus Y
CDSP Business/FiscalHousehold SectorConsumer Debt/Income RatioQ
PERMIT Business/FiscalHousehold SectorNew Home PermitsM
HSN1F Business/FiscalHousehold Sector New Home Sales M
CMDEBT Business/FiscalHousehold SectorOutstanding Mortgage DebtQ
DGORDER Business/FiscalInd. ProductionManufacturers' New OrdersM
TCU Business/FiscalInd. ProductionCapacity Utilization: Total IndustryM
TTLCONS Business/FiscalConstructionTotal Construction SpendingM
BUSINV Business/FiscalOtherTotal Business InventoriesM
ALTSALES Business/FiscalOtherLight Weight Vehicle SalesM
UMCSENT Business/FiscalOther Univ of Michigan: Consumer Sentiment M
STLFSI Business/FiscalOtherSt. Louis Financial Stress IndexW
OILPRICE Business/FiscalOtherSpot Oil Price - West Texas IntermediateM
CPIAUCSL Consumer PricesCPI Consumer Price Index: Seasonally Adj.M
UNRATE Empl & PopulationHousehold Survey Civilian Total Unemployment Rate M
UEMP27OV Empl & PopulationHousehold SurveyLong Term Unemployment: >27 WKSM
UEMPMED Empl & PopulationHousehold SurveyLength of UnemploymentM
CE16OV Empl & PopulationHousehold SurveyTotal US WorkforceM
EMRATIO Empl & PopulationHousehold SurveyUS Employment/Population RatioM
POP Empl & PopulationPopulation US Population M
AHEMAN Empl & PopulationEst. SurveyAvg Hourly Earnings: ManufacturingM
AWHMAN Empl & PopulationEst. SurveyAvg Weekly Hours: ManufacturingM
AWOTMAN Empl & PopulationEst. SurveyAvg Weekly OT Hours: ManufacturingM
DEXUSUK Exchange Rates Daily RatesUSD/GBP Currency Exchange RateD
DEXUSEU Exchange Rates Daily RatesUSD/EUR Currency Exchange RateD
DEXJPUS Exchange Rates Daily RatesJPN/USD Currency Exchange RateD
DEXMXUS Exchange Rates Daily RatesMXP/USD Currency Exchange RateD
DEXCAUS Exchange Rates Daily RatesCAD/USD Currency Exchange RateD
DEXCHUS Exchange Rates Daily RatesCNY/USD Currency Exchange RateD
COMPOUT Financial DataMonetaryCommercial Paper OutstandingW
VIXCLS Financial DataVolatility Inexes CBOE Volatility Index D
GDP GDP & ComponentsGDP/GNP US Gross Domestic Product Q
GNP GDP & ComponentsGDP/GNP US Gross National Product Q
GDI GDP & ComponentsGDP/GNP US Gross Domestic Income Q
NETFI GDP & ComponentsImports & Exports US Current Account Balance Q
EXPGS GDP & ComponentsImports & ExportsUS Exports Goods & ServicesQ
IMPGS GDP & ComponentsImports & ExportsUS Imports Goods & ServicesQ
DGI GDP & ComponentsGovt Accounting Fed Govt: Defense Budget Q
FGRECPT GDP & ComponentsGovt Accounting Fed Govt: Tax Receipts Q
TGDEF GDP & ComponentsGovt Accounting Fed Govt: Budget Deficit Q
CP GDP & ComponentsIndustryCorporate Profits After TaxQ
DIVIDEND GDP & ComponentsIndustryCorporate DividendsQ
PI GDP & ComponentsPersonalPersonal IncomeM
PSAVE GDP & ComponentsSavings & Inv.Personal SavingsQ
PSAVERT GDP & ComponentsSavings & Inv. Personal Savings Rate M
MORTGAGE30US Interest Rates30yr Mortgage30-yr Conventional Mortgage RateW
DPCREDIT Interest RatesFRB Rates Discount Rate D
FEDFUNDS Interest RatesFRB Rates Effective Federal Funds Rate M
M1 Monetary AggregatesM1 M1 Money Supply M
M2 Monetary AggregatesM2 M2 Money Supply M
MZM (discontinued)Monetary AggregatesMZM MZM Money Supply M
M1V Monetary AggregatesM1 Velocity of M1 Money Stock M
M2V Monetary AggregatesM2 Velocity of M2 Money Stock M
MZMV (discontinued)Monetary AggregatesMZM Velocity of MZM Money Stock M
MULT (discontinued)Monetary AggregatesM1 M1 Money Multiplier M
PPIACO Producer PricesPPI Producer Price Index: All Commodities M
IMPCH TradeImportsImports from ChinaM
IMPJP TradeImportsImports from JapanM
IMPMX TradeImportsImports from MexicoM
IMPCA TradeImportsImports from CanadaM
IMPGE TradeImportsImports from GermanyM
IMPUK TradeImportsImports from UKM
EXPCH TradeExportsExports to ChinaM
EXPJP TradeExportsExports to JapanM
EXPMX TradeExportsExports to MexicoM
EXPCA TradeExportsExports to CanadaM
EXPGE TradeExportsExports to GermanyM
EXPUK TradeExportsExports to UKM
BOPGEXP TradeExportsExports: GoodsM
BOPGIMP TradeImportsImports: GoodsM
BOPGTB TradeBalanceBalance: GoodsM
BOPGSXP TradeExportsExports: ServicesM
BOPSIMP TradeImportsImports: ServicesM
BOPSTB TradeBalanceBalance: ServicesM
BOPGSTB TradeBalance Balance: Goods & Services M

See also

References

  1. "What is FRED? | Getting To Know FRED". Federal Reserve Economic Data. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  2. "Everybody Loves FRED: How America Fell for a Data Tool". New York Times. 2024.
  3. "ArchivaL Federal Reserve Economic Data - ALFRED - St. Louis Fed". Alfred.stlouisfed.org. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
  4. "GeoFRED: Geographic Federal Reserve Economic Data". Geofred.stlouisfed.org. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
  5. "Welcome to Cassidi". Cassidi.stlouisfed.org. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
  6. "Economic Data Publications, Historical Federal Reserve Archive, FRASER". Fraser.stlouisfed.org. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
  7. Federal Depository Library Program partnerships. Accessed March 14, 2013.
  8. FRASER information and collaboration. Accessed March 13, 2013.
  9. 1 2 IDEAS. Accessed March 21, 2025.
  10. "RePEc". RePEc. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
  11. "The Most Amazing Economics Website in the World", Joe Weisenthal, Business Insider, March 23, 2012.