Federal Reserve Economic Data

A metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a grouping of counties, cities, and towns with a high degree of social and economic integration. At the time of this writing, there are 387 such geographies in the United States.

The definitions and boundaries of MSAs are revised periodically to account for shifting patterns in resident population and economic conditions. So, some redrawing of MSA boundaries can shrink their geographies and/or reduce their population counts.

The solid blue line in the FRED graph above shows the annual resident population in the Charleston, West Virginia, MSA between 2000 and 2024. The other two lines represent the counties that made up the MSA during two different periods of time:

• The green dashed line shows the population for Kanawha, Jackson, Boone, Lincoln, and Clay counties, which is what the Charleston MSA included between 2010 and 2020.
• The orange dotted line shows the population for just Kanawha, Boone, and Clay counties, which is what the Charleston MSA included after 2020.

In both cases, when the number of counties in the MSA decreased, the solid blue line showing the MSA population dropped in a stepwise fashion. To learn more about this topic and how different data sources reflect changes in economic boundaries, read this earlier FRED Blog post.

How this graph was created: Search FRED for and select “Resident Population in Charleston, WV (MSA).” From the “Edit Graph” panel, use the “Add Line” tab to search for and select “Resident Population in Kanawha County, WV.” Next, customize the data in Line 2 by searching for “Resident Population in Boone County, WV.” Click on the “Add” button. Repeat the last step to add “Resident Population in Clay County, WV.” Next, type the formula a+b+c and click “Apply.”

Suggested by Diego Mendez-Carbajo.

US multinational companies generate returns on the assets they invest in across different countries. This is known as foreign direct investment (FDI) yield.

The FRED graph above shows the aggregate annual FDI yield for US multinationals. It’s calculated by dividing the dollar value of the flow of direct investment income (including profits, dividends, and reinvested earnings) by the dollar value of the total stock of foreign direct investment at a given point in time. Between 1999 and 2023, the latest data at the time of this writing, that yield ranged from 4% to 11%, with an average value of 6.7%.

There are vast differences in yields depending on the type of asset being held and where the investment takes place. Recent research from Ana Maria Santacreu and Ashley H. Stewart at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis compares the FDI yields from two different groups of countries: tax havens (countries with low corporate tax rates such as Bermuda, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Singapore, and Switzerland) and G7 nations (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States).

They find that between 2007 and 2017, tax havens generated roughly double the yield generated by G7 nations. In their analysis, they argue the difference likely stems from the accounting challenges of accurately measuring both the market value of the total stock of foreign direct investment and income flows from those tax havens. So, there’s likely another story behind the story told by the numbers.

For more about this and other research, visit the publications page of the St. Louis Fed’s website, which offers an array of economic analysis and expertise provided by our staff.

How this graph was created: Search FRED for and select “Primary Income Receipts: Investment income: Direct investment income.” Click on the “Edit Graph” button, select the “Edit Line” tab to customize the data by searching for “U.S. Assets: Direct Investment at Market Value.” Don’t forget to click “Add.” Next, type the formula (a/b)*100 and click “Apply.”

Suggested by Diego Mendez-Carbajo.

On March 28, 2025, the Bureau of Economic Analysis released real GDP data for all US states for the fourth quarter of 2024. The FRED map above shows the year-over-year growth rates: Red denotes contraction, light green denotes some growth, and dark green denotes faster growth.

Highlights

• 48 of 50 state economies expanded in 2024, with a national average of 2.8% growth.
• The median state grew at 2.4%, and 28 other states had slower growth than the US average.
• Utah had the fastest growth, at 4.5%.
• North Dakota and Iowa actually contracted at rates of -0.7% and -0.4%, respectively.

The St. Louis Fed’s Eighth District states all had positive growth, although most were below the national average: Arkansas and Indiana had the fastest growth, at about 3.8%. Missouri had 2.3% growth, just below the national average, placing it 30th in the US.

How this map was created: Search FRED for “Real Total Gross Domestic Product for Missouri” and click the first available series. Click the “View Map” button and then the blue “Edit Map” button. Modify the frequency to “Annual”; scroll to “Format” and switch the number of color groups to 3 with the data grouped by “User Defined Method”; then define the scales to be 0, 2.8, and 5. For values less than 0, choose red to show contraction; for values less than 2.8, choose light green to show a slower expansion than the whole United States; for values less than 5, choose dark green to show a faster expansion.

Suggested by Charles Gascon and Violeta Gutkowski.