FRED has added 987 annual World Development Indicators series originally published by the World Bank. The data cover a multitude of indicators spanning from inflation rates to population levels for both individual nations and transnational regions. The information in FRED includes notes that outline which nations are included in the transnational data published and a brief explanation about what the indicators measure.
The FRED monthly database for macroeconomic research (FRED-MD) now includes the June 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 808 quarterly series covering credit to the non-financial sector, originally published by the Bank for International Settlements. The data cover credit to areas such as households, non-profit institutions serving households, and the general government. The data are published in domestic currencies, U.S. dollars, and percentage of GDP. Notes have been added relating to the source of the credit.
From Economic Synopses: Recent labor costs have actually grown more slowly than during the previous recovery.
From Economic Synopses: Relatively speaking, the U.S. pays less to borrow and China earns less from lending. New Chinese policies may change that.
From Economic Synopses: “Too Big To Fail” has some consequences that may not be so obvious.
FRED has added 1,993 historical series from the Banking and Monetary Statistics, 1914-1941 release of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. This addition includes only data from Section 1 (General Statistics of All Banks in the United States) and Section 2 (Assets and Liabilities of All Member Banks).More data and information about this release can be found on FRASER.
FRED has added 1137 annual series from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on multifactor productivity. Multifactor productivity is measured as output per unit of combined input to see how inputs are used to produce the goods and services. These data are broken down into private business, private nonfarm business, and manufacturing sectors starting in 1987. The manufacturing sector is further broken down into 18 manufacturing industries.
FRED has added 50 annual minimum wage series published by the U. S. Department of Labor. The data cover the federal minimum wage and the minimum wages of 45 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and 4 U.S. territories from the year 1968 to the present. The information in FRED also includes specific legislative justifications and identifies points in time when no state or other minimum wage has existed.
You can now visit FRED at https://fred.stlouisfed.org. Take a brief tour of its new forms and functions.
