Economic Indicators
Employment
Key labor market indicators that signal economic health and consumer spending power.
U-3: Official rate - unemployed workers actively seeking jobs.
U-6: Includes discouraged workers + part-time for economic reasons.
Unemployment Rate
Inflation
Price stability measures that influence Fed policy and purchasing power. The Fed targets 2% annual inflation.
Fed targets 2% annual inflation. YoY shows the 12-month trend; MoM shows recent momentum.
Dallas Fed Trimmed Mean PCE. Removes extreme price changes for a cleaner inflation signal. Fed targets 2%.
CPI Year-over-Year
Economic Growth
Measures of overall economic output and expansion.
Fed Policy
Interest rate targets set by the Federal Reserve to manage inflation and employment.
Federal Funds Rate
National Debt & Deficit
Federal government debt levels and annual budget deficits. Data from the U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data API.
Understanding Economic Indicators
Leading vs. Lagging Indicators
- Leading: Consumer Sentiment, Jobless Claims - predict future trends
- Coincident: GDP, Employment - reflect current conditions
- Lagging: Unemployment Rate, CPI - confirm trends after they occur
U-3 vs U-6 Unemployment
- U-3: Headline rate - only counts people actively job hunting
- U-6: Broader measure - adds discouraged workers and involuntary part-timers
- The gap between U-3 and U-6 reveals hidden labor market slack
- U-6 is typically 3-4 percentage points higher than U-3
CPI vs PCE Inflation
- CPI: Fixed basket of goods, updated less frequently
- PCE: Accounts for consumer substitution behavior
- PCE is typically 0.3-0.5% lower than CPI
- Fed targets 2% annual PCE inflation
Why These Indicators Matter
- Employment: Jobs drive consumer spending (70% of GDP)
- Inflation: Affects purchasing power and Fed policy
- GDP: Broad measure of economic health
- Fed Funds: Influences borrowing costs throughout the economy
Release Schedule
- Weekly (Thursdays): Initial Jobless Claims
- Monthly: Unemployment Rate (1st Friday), CPI (mid-month), Consumer Sentiment
- Quarterly: GDP (advance, 2nd, 3rd estimates)
- 8x/year: Fed Funds Rate (FOMC meetings)
Data sourced from FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) and the U.S. Treasury Fiscal Data API.
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