Federal Reserve Economic Data

Understanding the Data


What is Frequency Aggregation?

Frequency aggregation converts higher-frequency data series into lower-frequency data series (e.g., from monthly data to annual data). In FRED, the highest data frequency is daily and the lowest data is annual. There are three aggregation methods available: Average: This method … Continue reading

Posted in Understanding the Data

How Can I Navigate to the Originating Source of the Data?

FRED publishes data from various sources. There are multiple ways to navigate to the originating source’s website. Option 1: Below a graph, go to the “NOTES” section. Next to “Source” (on the first line), click the source name (see the … Continue reading

Posted in Understanding the Data

How to Find More Information About the Data?

FRED publishes data from various sources. We provide ways to navigate to the originating source’s website, and to navigate to data series on FRED belonging to the same release from the originating source. Below a graph, go to the “NOTES” … Continue reading

Posted in Understanding the Data

What is the Date Format?

All dates are represented as daily dates for consistency and ease of use. FRED uses a single date format widely supported by various spreadsheet applications (Excel, Lotus, etc.) and statistical software packages (SAS, Eviews, Stata, RATS, etc.). Because annual, quarterly, and … Continue reading

Posted in Understanding the Data, Frequently Asked Questions

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