FRED has added the Brave-Butters-Kelley Indexes (BBKI), a research project from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. The BBK Coincident and Leading Indexes and Monthly GDP Growth for the U.S. are constructed from a large panel of monthly measures of real economic activity and quarterly real GDP growth. Monthly GDP growth is indexed to the quarterly estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and consists of three components: cycle, trend, and irregular components.
Explore the monthly and quarterly BBK indexes in FRED here.
This index from the Dallas Fed, developed by Lutz Kilian, measures global real economic activity in industrial commodity markets. This business-cycle index is expressed in percent deviations from trend. It is derived from a panel of dollar-denominated global bulk dry cargo shipping rates and may be viewed as a proxy for the volume of shipping in global industrial commodity markets.
For further discussion of the advantages of this index compared with measures of global real GDP or global industrial production, see Kilian and Zhou (2018).
The second release, U.S. Granted Patents by States, Territories, and Countries, has U.S. granted patents originating in U.S. states/territories and foreign countries from 1992 to 2019. Patents granted are also broken down by patent type: utility, plant, design, and reissue patents.
These 53 series represent the changes that the FDIC implemented after redefining the “national rate” as follows: the average of rates paid by all insured depository institutions and credit unions for which data are available, with rates weighted by each institution’s share of domestic deposits.
On December 15, 2020, the FDIC Board of Directors approved a final rule making certain revisions to the interest rate restrictions applicable to less-than-well-capitalized institutions (as defined in Section 38 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act), which are effective on April 1, 2021. The interest rate restrictions generally limit a less-than-well-capitalized institution from soliciting deposits by offering rates that significantly exceed rates in its prevailing market.
Users are encouraged to read the previously mentioned documentation, as well as view the release tables.
We’re pleased to announce that FRED is celebrating 30 years as a trusted leader in providing economic data! And archival FRED (ALFRED) is celebrating 15 years of storing real-time vintages of FRED data!
The invitation list for this celebration includes you, of course, and 788,000 of our closest friends. (That is, our data series.) Additional “guests” will trickle in over time.
We’re marking this milestone with an update to the FRED website header, which includes FRED-specific content such as Release Calendar, FRED Blog, and About FRED. It also gives credit to our parent, the St. Louis Fed’s Research Division, and sibling websites, all under the heading Economic Research Resources.
Notice the new trending search terms on the FRED homepage? This list of the most-looked-for data in FRED is updated twice per day to provide you with the most relevant and timely data info.
We’re happy we can continue to enhance these data services and provide valuable resources for your data needs. Help us celebrate by testing out these new features and let us know if you have any birthday data wishes.
Focus on Employment in Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services
This assignment provides instructions on building the graph below and includes writing prompts for out-of-class assignments.
Using GeoFRED® to Compare Internet Use Across Countries
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: Name three countries where fewer than 20 of every 100 persons have access to the internet.
Learning About the Economics of Information to Forecast Changes in Gross Domestic Product
In the fourth quarter of 2020, real gross domestic product increased. Read on for more details and a list of resources to become a better FREDcast forecaster.
Quiz Yourself on Different Aspects of the Economics of Information
The graph above shows spending on reading for seven age groups.
Q1. As of 2019, which age group spent the most on reading?
Q2. As of 2019, which age group spent the least on reading?
The map above shows the number of persons employed in the information industry in each U.S. metropolitan statistical area (MSA).
Q1. As of 2020, where are most people employed in the information industry located—on the coasts or on the interior?
Q2. As of 2020, where are most people employed in the information industry located—in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim Metro or in New York-Newark-Jersey City Metro?
Q1. Name two industrial sectors where the producer price index for advertising space and time sales in 2020 is above its 2010 value.
Q2. In which industrial sector has the producer price index for advertising space and time sales constantly declined since 2010?
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 153 series from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Quarterly Banking Profile (QBP). The QBP provides the earliest comprehensive summary of financial results for all FDIC-insured institutions. These series provide quarterly aggregate U.S. data since 1984.
Also, the Reports of Condition and Income for All Insured U.S. Commercial Banks release will be discontinued. Similar aggregate U.S. data can be found in the QBP release. Links to series similar to the discontinued ones are provided in the series notes where available. Raw data to reconstruct the other regional-based series are available from the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) Central Data Repository’s Public Data Distribution.
Focus on the Nominal and the Real Value of the Minimum Wage
This assignment provides instructions on building the graph below and includes writing prompts for out-of-class assignments.
Using GeoFRED® to Compare Minimum Wages Across States
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: Name three states where the minimum wage was above $10 an hour in 2020. Be sure to look at all 50 states.
Learning About the Minimum Wage to Forecast Changes in Employment
In January 2021, nonfarm payroll employment changed little. 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, “In January 2021…nonfarm payroll employment changed little.”
Quiz Yourself on the Economics of the Minimum Wage
The graph above shows the value of the minimum wage as a proportion of the average wage (in blue) and the mean value of that calculation (in purple).
Q1. Between 1965 and 2020, what was the mean value of the minimum wage as a proportion of the average wage?
Q2. Between 1965 and 2020, when was the minimum wage closest in value to the average wage?
Q3. Between 1965 and 2020, when did the minimum wage represent the smallest fraction of the average wage?
The graph above shows the value of the minimum wage periodically revised by Congress (in blue), and its 1984 value had it been indexed to the consumer price index at that time (in purple).
Q1. As of December 2020, which one is higher?
Q2. Between 1984 and 2020, was the minimum wage set by Congress ever higher than the hypothetical inflation-indexed 1984 minimum wage?
Q1. When did Congress first set a minimum wage for farm workers?
Q2. When did Congress make the minimum wage for farm workers and nonfarm workers equal?
Q3. When the two minimum wages set by Congress were different, which one was lower?
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.
These four series are an extension of the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR). The SOFR averages are compounded averages of the SOFR over rolling 30-, 90-, and 180-calendar-day periods. The SOFR Index measures the cumulative impact of compounding the SOFR on a unit of investment over time, with the initial value set to 1 on April 2, 2018 (i.e., the first value date of the SOFR). The SOFR Index value reflects the effect of compounding the SOFR each business day and allows the calculation of compounded SOFR averages over custom time periods.
Users can view a daily snapshot of these data with the release tables.
