Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) (Off-site), the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis’ online economic database, makes it easy to visualize data on many topics. Whether you’re interested in financial indicators or simply excited about data, you can use FRED’s customizable data visualization tools to deepen your understanding of economic trends based on a wealth of publicly available and downloadable data.
Exploring FRED’s capabilities is simple: Use the search bar, browse trending search terms, or peruse various data categories. When you click on a data series, you’ll be directed to a web page with a line graph displaying the data series over time.
Use case: FRED data on the U.S. nonfarm job market
As an example, you can use FRED’s data series Job Openings: Total Nonfarm (Off-site) to look at how the rate of U.S. nonfarm job openings has changed over time. The date range is customizable, with monthly data going back to December 2000. Some data series on FRED, like real GDP (Off-site), include data going back almost 90 years!
Displaying the maximum time range available for the monthly U.S. nonfarm job openings rate creates the line graph above. This graph can provide valuable insights into how the nonfarm job market performed during different time periods.
FRED also allows users to compare multiple data series within one graph. We can use this capability to get a better idea of labor market activity by graphing the total nonfarm hire rate (Off-site) on top of the total nonfarm job opening rate. This tutorial (Off-site) provides step-by-step instructions on how to add a data series to an existing graph.
FRED’s data visualization tools help users develop narratives by analyzing how data relate and interact. Comparing nonfarm job openings to nonfarm hires and total separations begins to construct a complex, detailed story of how economic data reflects our continuously evolving world.
More tools and data from FRED
What story can you uncover using the power of data? FRED has a wealth of information on national and international topics ranging from banking and finance to education and manufacturing. Visit the FRED website (Off-site) to start exploring.
