Federal data guide
US Economic Indicators Data
A guide to the federal datasets behind the headline economic numbers — inflation, GDP and growth, the jobs report, interest rates and credit, the federal cash flow, and home prices. These are the releases that move markets and drive policy, from the BLS, BEA, Federal Reserve, Treasury, and Census. Each links to a full deep-dive.
The US economy is measured by a handful of agencies whose releases set the terms of every policy debate. The BLS produces the inflation indices and the monthly jobs report; the BEA measures GDP and the balance of payments; the Federal Reserve publishes interest rates, bank balance sheets, and the flow of funds; the Treasury reports the government’s daily cash and foreign capital flows; and the Census and FHFA track housing and the local economy. The guides group these by what they measure. (The fuller labor-market and wage datasets live in the trade, immigration & labor guide.)
Prices & inflation (BLS)
The indices that define inflation.
- BLS CPI: The Consumer Price Index and the Federal Inflation Measurement Behind Every Policy Decision — consumer price inflation
- BLS PPI: The Producer Price Index and the Federal Inflation Dataset That Leads CPI — producer prices
- BLS Employment Cost Index: The Quarterly Wage and Benefits Tracker the Federal Reserve Watches Most Closely — wage and benefit costs
Output, growth & productivity (BEA, BLS)
How much the economy produces, and how efficiently.
- BEA GDP and National Accounts: The Federal Dataset That Measures the US Economy — GDP and the national accounts
- BEA Regional Accounts: GDP by State, Personal Income by County, and the Sub-National Economic Measurement Behind Every State Policy Decision — GDP and income by state and county
- BEA International Transactions: The Balance of Payments Data Behind Every US Trade Deficit Headline — the balance of payments
- BLS Multifactor Productivity: The Federal Dataset Behind Long-Run Economic Growth Accounting — productivity and growth accounting
Jobs & the labor market
The headline employment indicators.
- BLS Current Employment Statistics: The Monthly Jobs Report Behind Every Payroll Number — the monthly jobs report
- BLS JOLTS: The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Data Behind Every Fed Labor Market Statement — job openings and turnover
Money, credit & interest rates (Fed)
Rates, bank balance sheets, credit conditions, and the flow of funds.
- Federal Reserve H.15: The Selected Interest Rates Release Behind Treasury Yields, Fed Funds, and Every Rate Benchmark — the benchmark interest rates
- Federal Reserve H.8: The Weekly Snapshot of Every US Commercial Bank’s Balance Sheet — bank assets and liabilities
- Federal Reserve Z.1: The Complete Quarterly Accounting of Every Dollar in the US Financial System — the flow of funds
- Federal Reserve Senior Loan Officer Survey: The Quarterly Credit Conditions Data the Fed Uses to Track Lending Tightening — bank lending conditions
- Treasury TIC Data: Foreign Ownership of US Securities and the Federal Capital Flow Dataset — foreign capital flows
Fiscal, housing & local economy
The federal checkbook, home prices, and the local economy.
- Treasury Daily Treasury Statement: The Federal Cash Flow Data Published Every Business Day — the government’s daily cash flow
- FHFA House Price Index: The Federal Repeat-Sales Benchmark for US Home Prices — home-price growth
- Census Building Permits and Housing Starts: The Federal Leading Indicator Behind the US Housing Market — housing starts and permits
- Census County Business Patterns: Annual Establishment Counts, Employment, and Payroll for Every US County — the local business economy
- Census SAIPE: The Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates Behind Federal Education Funding and County-Level Poverty Maps — local income and poverty
More guides at Federal data guides, or browse all writing and the full dataset catalog.