FRED has added about 18,500 new series from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Expenditure Surveys (CE) program. The CE program provides data on expenditures, income, and demographic characteristics of consumers in the United States, which are primarily used to revise the relative importance of goods and services in the market basket of the consumer price index.
The CE surveys collect data that fall into one of the following major expenditure categories:
alcoholic beverages
apparel and services
cash contributions
education
entertainment
food
healthcare
housing
miscellaneous
personal care products and services
personal insurance and pensions
reading
tobacco products and smoking supplies
transportation
The expenditure data and demographic and income information are provided in a variety of formats, including tables with estimates by region, income, age, race, education, occupation, and various other characteristics of the household or reference person. CE also provides tables that cross-tabulate using two characteristics (e.g., age and income) to allow users to further analyze the spending behavior for a particular subset of the population.
Focus on Employment Changes Across Educational Attainment Groups
This assignment provides instructions on building the graph below and includes writing prompts for out-of-class assignments.
Using GeoFRED® to Compare Educational Attainment and Unemployment Rates
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.
Again, click on the map above to view an interactive version Question: Compare both maps. What differences or similarities do you see between educational attainment and unemployment across geographical areas in the U.S.?
Learning About the Economics of Education to Forecast Changes in Payroll Employment
In December 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 declined by 140,000 in December (2020).”
Q1. As of the second quarter of 2020, which population group had the second-highest median weekly income level?
Q2. As of the second quarter of 2020, which population group had the lowest median weekly income level?
Q1. As of November 2020, which population group had the lowest participation rate in the civilian labor force?
Q2. As of November 2020, which population group had the highest participation rate in the civilian labor force?
Q1. Between 2000 and 2020, which population groups had the most constant unemployment rates?
Q2. Between 2000 and 2020, which population groups experienced the largest changes in unemployment rates?
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These state-level data include initial claims for unemployment assistance for workers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic (including those workers who are not ordinarily eligible for unemployment benefits), as well as continued claims for unemployment assistance and emergency unemployment compensation for these workers.
More details about the data and the expanded eligibility requirements are available from the Department of Labor’s FAQs for unemployment insurance relief.
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?
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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?
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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?
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