Real-Time Data - Principles of Macroeconomics

Same controls + caching. Deeper views per topic.

Tip: Use Overview in lecture for the fast story; use the topic tabs for discussion sections and deeper dives.

Today’s pulse

Four headline indicators, live.

FRED

Time window

Choose how far back to display

Overlay

Show US recessions (NBER)

Shade recession periods

Uses the FRED series USREC.

Growth

Real GDP (QoQ annualized) & Industrial Production (YoY %).

GDP: GDPC1

IP: INDPRO

Inflation

CPI (YoY %) and PCE (YoY %).

CPI: CPIAUCSL

PCE: PCEPI

Unemployment Rates

U2 is job losers; U3 is headline; U6 captures broader underutilization.

UNRATE: UNRATE

LFP: CIVPART

Interest rates

Policy rate and the yield curve (10Y–2Y).

FFR: FEDFUNDS

10Y: DGS10

2Y: DGS2

CPI vs PCE (index level)

Price level paths (not growth rates). Useful for cumulated inflation discussions.

CPI: CPIAUCSL

PCE: PCEPI

CPI drivers (YoY %)

Big-picture components that move inflation.

All items: CPIAUCSL

Core: CPILFESL

Inflation heatmap

Pick a month/year to see which categories were hottest then.

Month Year

Category	YoY %	Δ vs prior year (pp)	As of

Colors show relative heat within this table (red = hotter, blue = cooler).

Unemployment Rates

U2 is job losers; U3 is headline; U6 captures broader underutilization.

U2: U2RATE

U3: UNRATE

U6: U6RATE

JOLTS (tightness)

Openings and openings per unemployed (computed).

Openings: JTUJOL

Unemployed: LNU03000000

Labor market levels

Raw CPS levels: population, labor force, employed/unemployed, and broader underutilization measures.

Units: persons (thousands) • Month Year

Series	Selected	Prev available	Change	As of

Note: "Working-age population" here is the Civilian Noninstitutional Population (16+). "Discouraged" is a subset of "Marginally attached."

Unemployment measures (U1–U6)

Monthly heatmap of all BLS unemployment measures over a custom date range.

From To

Measure

U1: 15+ weeks unemployed; U2: Job losers; U3: Headline (UNRATE); U4: +discouraged; U5: +marginally attached; U6: +part-time for economic reasons. Colors show relative heat (red = higher, blue = lower).

FRED Custom Explorer

Plot any FRED series. Add up to 6 series, customize colors, axes, chart type, and time range.

Chart Options

Chart type

Date range

From

Recession shading Log scale (Y1) Show gridlines Show legend Label last value

Legend position

Chart title (optional)

Axis Labels

Left axis (Y1)

Right axis (Y2)

Series

Quick Add

Click any to pre-fill the next series slot.

Zoom: | Scroll on chart to zoom · Drag to pan

Data source

All data are pulled from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis FRED API.

Explore FRED →

Real-Time Economic Data

Today’s pulse

Growth

Inflation

Unemployment Rates

Interest rates

GDP: Real vs Nominal

GDP components (starter)

CPI vs PCE (index level)

CPI drivers (YoY %)

Inflation heatmap

Unemployment Rates

JOLTS (tightness)

Labor market levels

Unemployment measures (U1–U6)

Yield curve

Household borrowing + spreads

FRED Custom Explorer

Chart Options

Axis Labels

Series

Quick Add

Data source