FRED has added 204 monthly series on corporate bond yield curves based on methodology developed by the U.S. Treasury. These high-quality market (HQM) yields are used to discount future pension liabilities as required by the Pension Protection Act. The HQM yield curve uses data from a set of corporate bonds rated AAA, AA, or A that accurately represent the high-quality corporate bond market. Yields are projected for corporate bonds beyond 30 years maturity.

The FRED monthly database for macroeconomic research (FRED-MD) now includes the December 2016 vintage. This database, designed for the empirical analysis of “big data,” is described in detail in a St. Louis Fed working paper by Michael W. McCracken and Serena Ng.

FRED has added 17 monthly metro area economic condition indexes based on the work of Maria A. Arias, Charles S. Gascon, and David E. Rapach. These indexes highlight differences in business cycles across U.S. metropolitan statistical areas.

FRED has added 181 annual series published by the Internal Revenue Service. The data, taken from historical tables, provide information on the number of individual income tax returns, the highest and lowest tax brackets, and estimates on selected exemptions, income, credits, and payments.