The U.S. Census Bureau has released an experimental data product featuring modeled state-level retail sales. The Monthly State Retail Sales (MSRS) report is a blended data product that combines monthly retail trade survey data, administrative data, and third-party data. Users are encouraged to view the MSRS methodology for more information on how the Census constructs the data.
These 624 series represent year-over-year percent changes for total retail sales excluding nonstore retailers as well as 11 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) retail subsectors. The available release table provides a view for geographic and industry comparison, and all state-level data are available in GeoFRED.
This assignment provides instructions on building the graph below and includes writing prompts for out-of-class assignments.
Using GeoFRED® to Compare Mean Commuting Time for Workers
This assignment provides instructions on creating the map below and suggests prompts for in-class discussion. See how you do on our sample discussion question below.
Click on the map above to view an interactive version Question: In 2018, which of these two counties reported longer mean commuting times for workers: Cook County, IL (home to the City of Chicago) or Los Angeles County, CA (home to the City of Los Angeles)?
Learning About the Economics of Travel to Forecast Changes in Gross Domestic Product
Travel and tourism contribute to gross domestic product (GDP). Read on for more details and a list of resources to become a better FREDcast forecaster.
BEA Headline:
According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, “The U.S. outdoor recreation economy accounted for 2.2 percent ($427.2 billion) of current-dollar gross domestic product (GDP) in 2017.”
Quiz Yourself on Different Aspects of the Economics of Travel
The load factor is a measure of use of aircraft capacity.
Q1. As of the fourth quarter of 2019, how full (in percent) were domestic passenger flights?
Q2. Between 2002 and 2019, did domestic passenger flights become more or less crowded?
Q3. Consider the regular ups and downs in the load factor during any given year. In which quarter are domestic passenger flights least crowded?
Q1. Between 1971 and 2019, did the number of miles traveled by road per person constantly increase?
Q2. At its peak in 2005, how many miles did a person, on average, travel by road?
Q1. Between 2000 and 2019, did the number of rail freight carloads and the number of miles traveled by rail by persons change in the same direction?
Q2. How did the number of rail freight carloads and the number of miles traveled by rail by persons change during the 2007-2009 recession?
Now that you’ve aced this quiz, give it to your students using this dashboard. To customize this dashboard, just click the “Save to My Account” button at the top of the dashboard.
FRED has added 118 new series from Indeed, which calculates trends in job postings on Indeed for the U.S., Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, and the U.K. For the U.S., indices are calculated for states, for the largest metro areas by population, and by wage tier. Indeed reports how the trends in job postings this year differ from those of last year, focusing on the recent changes in labor market conditions due to COVID-19.
Copyrighted: Pre-approval required. Contact Indeed to request permission to use the data at their contact information provided here.
The Board of Governors discontinued the H.3 statistical release “Aggregate Reserves of Depository Institutions and the Monetary Base” on September 17, 2020.
As a result of the elimination of reserve requirements for all depository institutions (effective March 26, 2020), many of the release items on the Board’s H.3 statistical release are zero. Therefore, the Board consolidated the remaining relevant items from the H.3 statistical release into the H.6 release, “Money Stock Measures.” For more details on this consolidation, see the Board’s announcement posted August 20, 2020, and the Technical Q&As for H.6.
The changes described above have been implemented in FRED. Most of the series from H.3 were discontinued, with the exception of the following monthly series, which were consolidated into Table 1 of the H.6 statistical release:
This assignment provides instructions on building the graph below and includes writing prompts for out-of-class assignments.
Using GeoFRED® to Compare Emissions Across States
This assignment provides instructions on creating the maps below and suggests prompts for in-class discussion. See how you do on our sample discussion question below.
Click on the map above to view an interactive version
Question: Which state is the second-largest source of carbon dioxide emissions from all sectors?
Click on the map above to view an interactive version
Question: Which state is the second-largest source of carbon dioxide emissions from coal? Briefly describe coal’s contribution to carbon emissions across states. Use Texas and Indiana as examples.
Learning About Environmental Economics to Forecast Changes in Gross Domestic Product
limate change is expected to lower gross domestic product (GDP) growth over time. (Learn more here). For example, environmental degradation will impact outdoor recreation. Read on for more details and a list of resources to become a better FREDcast forecaster.
BEA Headline:
According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, “The U.S. outdoor recreation economy accounted for 2.2 percent ($427.2 billion) of current-dollar gross domestic product (GDP) in 2017.”
Quiz Yourself on Different Aspects of Environmental Economics
Compare the price indexes for plastic products and recyclable plastics.
Q1. Which type of plastics decreased in price between 2012 and 2016?
Q2. Which type of plastics increased in price between 2012 and 2016?
Q3. As of 2019, which type of plastics are relatively cheaper?
Compare the price indexes for paperboard and recycled paperboard.
Q1. Which type of paperboard increased in price at a slower rate between 1983 and 2019?
Q2. Which type of paperboard increased in price at a faster rate between 1983 and 2019?
Q3. As of 2019, which type of paperboard is relatively cheaper?
Q1. As of 2017, what percentage of total carbon dioxide emissions did coal represent?
Q2. As of 2017, what percentage of total carbon dioxide emissions did petroleum represent?
Q3. As of 2017, what percentage of total carbon dioxide emissions did natural gas represent?
Now that you’ve aced this quiz, give it to your students using this dashboard. To customize this dashboard, just click the “Save to My Account” button at the top of the dashboard.
The methodology behind the Atlanta Fed / Chicago Booth / Stanford Survey of Business Uncertainty (SBU) was revised by the source in August 2020: Changes were made to the panel design, the survey questions asked, and the series produced. Because of these changes, FRED has discontinued the existing indices and added four new smoothed indices of business uncertainty and expectations.
Focus on Net Worth Changes after the Great Recession
This assignment provides instructions on building the graph below and includes writing prompts for out-of-class assignments.
Using GeoFRED® to Show the Homeownership Rate
This assignment provides instructions on creating the map below and suggests prompts for in-class discussion. See how you do on our sample discussion question below.
Click on the map above to view an interactive version
Question: Households have many ways of holding wealth, including by owning a home. In which state is the homeownership rate the highest?
Learning About the Economics of Wealth to Forecast Changes in GDP
In the second quarter of 2020, the value of gross domestic product decreased. Read on for more details and a list of resources to become a better FREDcast forecaster.
BEA Headline:
According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, “Real gross domestic product (GDP) decreased at an annual rate of 32.9 percent in the second quarter of 2020.”
Release Highlight:
“The decline in second quarter GDP reflected the response to COVID-19, as ‘stay-at-home’ orders issued in March and April were partially lifted in some areas of the country in May and June, and government pandemic assistance payments were distributed to households and businesses.”
Q1. Between 1980 and 2019, which of the past five recessions had the largest negative impact on U.S. wealth?
Q2. List the dates of three recessions between 1980 and 2019 when all-sectors U.S. wealth did not decrease.
Q1. As of the first quarter of 2020, which population group holds the most wealth in financial assets?
Q2. As of the first quarter of 2020, which population group holds the least wealth in financial assets?
Q1. As of the first quarter of 2020, which population group holds the most wealth in consumer durables?
Q2. As of the first quarter of 2020, which population group holds the least wealth in consumer durables?
Now that you’ve aced this quiz, give it to your students using this dashboard. To customize this dashboard, just click the “Save to My Account” button at the top of the dashboard.
FRED will no longer update weekly or monthly Treasury inflation-indexed securities data. Instead, these series will be replaced with their equivalent daily series. This change affects 11 weekly and 5 monthly series, listed in the table below.
If you want the daily data at a lower frequency (say, monthly), you can edit the graph: Select the desired frequency and choose “average” as the aggregation method. See our guide for more details.
Affected Weekly Series
Series
Discontinued Series ID
Daily Series ID Replacement
20-Year 2-3/8% Treasury Inflation-Indexed Bond, Due 1/15/2025
WTP20J25
DTP20J25
20-Year 2% Treasury Inflation-Indexed Bond, Due 1/15/2026
WTP20J26
DTP20J26
30-Year 3-5/8% Treasury Inflation-Indexed Bond, Due 4/15/2028
WTP30A28
DTP30A28
30-Year 3-7/8% Treasury Inflation-Indexed Bond, Due 4/15/2029
WTP30A29
DTP30A29
30-Year 2-1/8% Treasury Inflation-Indexed Bond, Due 2/15/2040
WTP30F40
DTP30F40
20-Year 1-3/4% Treasury Inflation-Indexed Bond, Due 1/15/2028
WTP20J28
DTP20J28
10-Year 1-1/8% Treasury Inflation-Indexed Note, Due 1/15/2021
WTP10J21
DTP10J21
20-Year 2-3/8% Treasury Inflation-Indexed Bond, Due 1/15/2027
WTP20J27
DTP20J27
20-Year 2-1/2% Treasury Inflation-Indexed Bond, Due 1/15/2029
WTP20J29
DTP20J29
30-Year 2-1/8% Treasury Inflation-Indexed Bond, Due 2/15/2041
WTP30F41
DTP30F41
30-1/2-Year 3-3/8% Treasury Inflation-Indexed Bond, Due 4/15/2032
WTP3HA32
DTP3HA32
Affected Monthly Series
Series
Discontinued Series ID
Daily Series ID Replacement
30-Year 3-7/8% Treasury Inflation-Indexed Bond, Due 4/15/2029
TP30A29
DTP30A29
30-Year 2-1/8% Treasury Inflation-Indexed Bond, Due 2/15/2041
TP30F41
DTP30F41
30-1/2-Year 3-3/8% Treasury Inflation-Indexed Bond, Due 4/15/2032
TP3HA32
DTP3HA32
30-Year 3-5/8% Treasury Inflation-Indexed Bond, Due 4/15/2028
TP30A28
DTP30A28
10-Year 1-1/8% Treasury Inflation-Indexed Note, Due 1/15/2021
In this newsletter, we use a graph to show recent changes in retail sales, map a frequency analysis of the word “pandemic” over time, share some tips for playing FREDcast, and quiz you on economic data related to the pandemic.
Focus on Social Distancing and Retail Sales
This assignment provides instructions on building the graph below and includes writing prompts for out-of-class assignments.
Using GeoFRED® to Show the Global Scale of the Pandemic
This assignment provides instructions on creating the maps below and suggests prompts for in-class discussion. See how you do on our sample discussion questions below.
Discussion about Pandemics (DAP) Index
The discussion about pandemics (DAP) index measures how often the word “pandemic” appears in economic intelligence reports. Learn more here. Click on the map above to view an interactive version
Question: Name four nations where the discussion about pandemics (DAP) index was larger than zero during the fourth quarter of 2019.
Again, click on the map above to view an interactive version
Question: Compare this map with the map above. How are they different? Name four nations where the discussion about pandemics (DAP) index was less than or equal to zero during the first quarter of 2020.
Learning About COVID-19 Economics to Forecast Changes in Employment
The pandemic has impacted employment. In April 2020, the total number of workers on payrolls decreased. Read on for more details and a list of resources to become a better FREDcast forecaster.
BLS Headline:
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Total nonfarm payroll employment fell by 20.5 million in April (2020).”
Quiz Yourself on Different Aspects of Social Distancing
Q1. As of February 2020, which were the three largest categories of non-food retail sales?
Q2. As of February 2020, what percentage of non-food retail sales did clothing and clothing accessory stores represent?
Q1. As of April 2020, which were the three largest categories of non-food retail sales?
Q2. As of April 2020, what percentage of non-food retail sales did clothing and clothing accessory stores represent?
Q1. Can you name a state where the employment in leisure and hospitality activities increased between May 2019 and May 2020?
Q2. Name the states where employment in leisure and hospitality activities decreased the most and the least between May 2019 and May 2020.
Now that you’ve aced this quiz, give it to your students using this dashboard. To customize this dashboard, just click the “Save to My Account” button at the top of the dashboard.
FRED has added 17 new series from the Optimal Blue Mortgage Market Indices (OBMMI). Calculated from actual locked rates with consumers across more than one-third of all mortgage transactions closed nationwide, OBMMI provides multiple mortgage pricing indices developed around the most popular mortgage products and specific borrower attributes.
