Federal Reserve Economic Data

The Bureau of Labor Statistics collects a lot of data, some of which is available in FRED. For example, there is the cost of household fuels in various parts of the country. The FRED graph above shows the price of electricity in three major metropolitan areas.

What do we learn from this graph? First, there are significant differences across regions. While there are large electricity markets that allow for some arbitrage, they do not appear to be perfect. Obviously, sending electricity across the country to take advantage of a higher price is not free. Second, these differences are persistent and vary little, likely a reflection of these transmission costs that are relatively stable. Third, the cost of electricity has increased quite a bit, lately in particular.

But did the cost really increase? What matters in the end is whether the cost of electricity increased relative to the costs of other goods. To measure this, we modify the first graph to obtain the graph below, by dividing each series by the consumer price index (CPI). (Note: There are CPI series for several major metro areas, but unfortunately they were discontinued in 2017; so, we have to make do with a national series.) Now we see that price of electricity has bounced around, but in the end it has not changed much.

How these graphs were created: Search FRED for “average price electricity” and select the Dallas series. Then click on “Edit Graph,” open the “Add Line” tab, search again, and select Boston. Repeat with Los Angeles. You have the first graph. For the second, within each line, search for series “CPI,” add it, and then apply the formula a/b. Repeat for the other lines.

Suggested by Christian Zimmermann.

We have published this post in mid-May, which seems like the time people would start indulging in ice cream. It’s not quite “I scream for ice cream” time, but the days are getting sufficiently warm to warrant stocking up cool treats. And ice cream is the quintessential seasonal product that is only in demand when it’s hot out. Right? Just look at the FRED graph for ice cream production: A classic example of seasonality! But wait… These data are very old. How does it look if we use current data?

The FRED graph below shows ice cream production since 1972 (in red). Yes, it is still seasonal, but it less so than in the early years or even a dozen years ago. It’s also striking that ice cream production now is barely higher than it was 50 years ago, despite roughly 60% more population. We added the price of ice cream to our second graph, and here we notice no seasonality at all. One would have expected some, as demand visibly fluctuates through much of the year and production costs may as well.

Keeping ice cream cold in the summer is more challenging, but research shows that ice cream prices do not vary with outside temperature, as manufacturers cannot amend prices quickly enough to adjust to short-term demand fluctuations. It seems this is also true for even predictable seasonal changes.

How these graphs were created: Search FRED for “ice cream,” select the historical production series, and you have the first graph. For the second graph, from the same search result, take the current production series, click on “Edit Graph,” open the “Add Line” tab, search again for “ice cream,” take the price series, open the “Format” tab, and put the legend for one of the series on the right.

Suggested by Christian Zimmermann.

You may know how many people live in your hometown. You may even have a good idea about the population of your state and the US as a whole. But do you know how many people live in your Federal Reserve District? No? Well, today is your lucky day…

FRED hosts numerous series associated with each Federal Reserve Bank’s District. Many of these series relate to each District’s balance sheet, such as its asset holdings and liabilities. But there are other tidbits in FRED, such as the population of each District.

Even cooler than that is the fact that FRED also has maps. Lots of maps. FRED provides you the ability to map regional data with a push of a button. The FRED map above gives one example associated with each District’s population through 2023. Not surprisingly, given the size of its District, the San Francisco Fed has the largest population, at roughly 69 million. The smallest population is associated with the Minneapolis Fed, at roughly 10 million. Our own St. Louis Fed is somewhere in the lower half of the Districts, at roughly 15 million.

These historical data go back to 1970, which allows you to track how the population of each District has grown over the past 50 years or so. During that time, the populations in each of the Dallas, Atlanta, and San Francisco Feds have grown well over 100%. Population growth is lowest at the Chicago and Cleveland Feds, at roughly 10%. The St. Louis Fed is right in the middle of the pack with roughly 32% population growth. So, now you know.

How this map was created: From FRED’s home page, search for and select “Resident Population in Federal Reserve District 8: St. Louis” to plot the time series of population for the Eighth District. In the upper right corner of this plot, click the green button labeled “View Map” to switch to a heat map of population for all Federal Reserve Districts. To view the heat map for an earlier year (e.g., 1970), adjust the date in the “Date” panel at the top (e.g., “1970-01-01”).

Suggested by Michael McCracken.