Federal Reserve Economic Data

In this post, we explore trends in corporate profits, which provides a summary measure of firms’ financial health and can help us gauge the overall performance of the economy. When contrasted with measures of aggregate income, they provide an overview of how income is distributed.

The FRED graph above shows quarterly data on corporate profits from the US national income and product accounts (NIPA) published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Corporate profits (with inventory valuation and capital consumption adjustments) totaled $3.1 trillion in the third quarter of 2024. That’s a significant increase relative to 2019, when corporate profits were $2.2 trillion, and relative to 2010, when they were $1.6 trillion. This increase might reflect an increase in firms’ market power. Although corporate profits have doubled since the end of 2010, so did national income.

Corporate profits in terms of national income have trended upward since the COVID-19 pandemic, but the increase is less spectacular than the nominal value would suggest. Profits have now stabilized at around 15.7% of national income; they were 14.4% of national income in 2010 and 13.6% in 2019.

How does the share of corporate profits compare with the shares of other components of national income? The FRED graph above shows the shares of the four major components of national income*:

1. compensation of employees (green dashed, right axis)
2. corporate profits (red solid, left axis)
3. taxes on production and imports net of subsidies (purple dotted, left axis)
4. proprietors’ income (orange dashed, left axis)

(Admittedly, the graph is quite crowded, so here’s a link to the same graph without legends.)

The compensation of employees as a fraction of national income is the mirror image of corporate profits, i.e., it tends to go up when corporate profits go down. Despite the uptick during the pandemic, the compensation of employees is back to pre-pandemic levels, at 62% of national income. In contrast, taxes net of subsidies as a fraction of national income went in the opposite direction. They collapsed during the pandemic and are now back at their historical level, at 8%. Proprietors’ income has been stable over the past few years, also accounting for 8% of national income.

*National income’s 7 components:

1. compensation of employees: wages, salaries, and employer contributions for pension funds
2. proprietors’ income: income of self-employed individuals and unincorporated business owners
3. rental income from housing, land, and natural resources
4. corporate profits
5. net interest payments: the difference between interest received and interest paid
6. taxes on production and imports, e.g., customs duties and excise, property, and sales taxes
7. smaller-value items: e.g., government subsidies, surplus of government enterprises, and business current transfer payments

How this graph was created: In FRED, search for “Corporate Profits” and select “Corporate Profits with Inventory Valuation Adjustment (IVA) and Capital Consumption Adjustment (CCAdj) (CPROFIT)” from the search results. Click on the “Edit Graph” button and use the “Edit line” tab to search for “NICUR” or “national income” in the “Customize data” section. In the “Formula” section below, type in 100*(a/b) to get corporate profits as a fraction of national income. Use the “Add Line” tab to find and add the series “National Income: Compensation of Employees, Paid (COE),” “Proprietors’ Income with Inventory Valuation Adjustment (IVA) and Capital Consumption Adjustment (CCAdj) (PROPINC),” and “Taxes on production and imports less subsidies (W254RC1Q027SBEA).” To make these time series a fraction of national income, use the “Edit line” tab to repeat the steps for corporate taxes above.

Suggested by Ricardo Marto.

FRED has several data series related to the US national debt, and today we analyze these series to reveal who holds that debt.

Components of US National Debt

The FRED graph above shows total US national debt (blue solid line) broken down into its two primary categories based on ownership:

• debt held by the public (orange dashed line)
• debt held by government agencies and trusts (teal dotted line), also known as intra-governmental holdings

A wide range of government agencies hold US national debt; two major examples are Social Security funds and federal employee retirement funds. The remainder of the debt is held by the public, including the Federal Reserve. As of the third quarter of 2024, debt held by the public was about $28 trillion, and intra-governmental holdings were about $7 trillion.

Breakdown of Debt Held by the Public

Our second FRED graph further divides debt held by the public (orange dashed line) into two categories:

• debt held by Federal Reserve Banks (teal dotted line)
• debt held by private investors (blue solid line)

After multiple rounds of quantitative easing, the Federal Reserve has become the largest single holder of US national debt. The Fed’s holdings increased from about $1 trillion at the end of 2010 to a peak of more than $6 trillion in 2022. But private-sector debt holdings grew even more significantly, rising from $8 trillion at the end of 2010 to nearly $24 trillion in 2024, reflecting the surge in US national debt.

Foreign central banks and foreign private-sector entities also play a crucial role in absorbing the fast-growing US national debt. Our third FRED graph shows debt held by foreigners (red dotted line), which doubled from about $4 trillion in 2010 to over $8 trillion in 2024. The gold dashed line is total debt held by private investors minus debt held by private foreign investors, which equals debt held by private domestic investors.

More Sources of Debt Data

The US Treasury Bulletin provides a detailed breakdown of public debt holdings among private investors. Those data aren’t currently available in FRED, but FRED does have the Fed’s financial account data, which reports the ownership of total marketable debt. And since most US debt held by the public is marketable, this is a good approximation of public vs. private ownership. Most US debt held by government accounts is non-marketable, as is a relatively small fraction of debt held by the public, primarily through defined benefit pension plans for public sector workers.

You can also check Financial Accounts Table L.210 in FRED for a detailed breakdown of private investor holdings of US debt, including households, banks, insurance companies, public and private pension funds, and mutual funds.

How these graphs were created: First graph: Search FRED for and select “Gross Federal Debt.” Go to the “Edit Graph” section (blue button in the top right) to add the other series: “Federal Debt Held by the Public” and “Federal Debt Held by Agencies and Trusts.” Ensure the units are consistent across the series by using the formula a/1000 to convert millions to billions. Start the graph in 2000-01-01 by using the date entry box above the graph. Second graph: Repeat the process with “Federal Debt Held by the Public,” “Federal Debt Held by Federal Reserve Banks,” “Federal Debt Held by Private Investors.” Third graph: Repeat the process with “Federal Debt Held by Private Investors” and “Federal Debt Held by Foreign and International Investors.” To create the third data series, use the formula a-b for debt held by private domestic investors.

Suggested by YiLi Chien and Ashley Stewart.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) calculates price indexes that help all of us better understand changes in underlying economic activity, including inflation.

One of the BEA’s headline inflation indicators, the personal consumption expenditures price index (PCEPI), is used by the Federal Reserve to adjust monetary policy to promote maximum employment and stable prices. The BEA reports different price indexes for the final goods and services available in the U.S., and the FRED graph above shows their quarterly percent change from a year ago side by side.

• • Orange bars show the personal consumption expenditures price index, which measures prices for both domestic and imported goods and services bought by consumers.
  • Light blue bars show the gross domestic purchases price index, which measures prices for both domestically produced and imported goods and services bought by consumers, businesses, and governments.
  • Dark blue bars show the gross domestic product price index, which measures prices for domestically produced goods and services bought by consumers, businesses, governments, and the rest of the world.

Differences in the scope of these price indicators explain the differences in their year-over-year inflation rates.

This FRED Blog post is an adaptation of The BEA Wire’s “A Historical Look at BEA’s Price Measures.”

How this graph was created: Search FRED for “Personal Consumption Expenditures: Chain-type Price Index.” Next, click on the “Edit Graph” button and select the “Add Line” tab. Search for “Gross domestic purchases (chain-type price index)” and click on “Add data series.” Repeat the last step to add “Gross Domestic Product: Chain-type Price Index” to the graph. Next, select the “Edit Lines” tab to change the units to “Percent Change from Year Ago” and click on “Copy to all.” Last, use the “Format” tab to select “Graph type: Bar.”

Suggested by Diego Mendez-Carbajo.