Federal Reserve Economic Data

The FRED graph above shows two data series on federal government expenditures reported by two different sources: the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (solid blue line) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Fiscal Service (dark orange dashed line). Both have similar values but they aren’t identical. Why is that?

In addition to having different titles (expenditures vs. outlays), these two data series differ in their frequency, units, seasonal adjustment, and reporting methodology. Many of these differences are accounted for in the metadata FRED provides in the notes under the graph.

In brief, these differences are as follows:

• The BEA reports Federal Government: Current Expenditures as part of its quarterly Government Receipts and Expenditures data release, which includes the value of gross investment in equipment on a delivery basis and compensation on an accrual basis. Units are billions of dollars, adjusted for seasonal patterns in spending, calculated at an annual rate.
• The Treasury reports Total Federal Outlays as part of its Monthly Treasury Statement, which includes cash flows to fund the operation of different departments and agencies. Units are millions of dollars, unadjusted for seasonal patterns in spending. (The FRED graph uses billions of dollars on an annual basis to make the two series comparable.)

In conclusion, read the “Notes” section under the FRED graph to better tell the story behind the numbers.

How this graph was created: Search FRED for “Federal Government: Current Expenditures.” Next, click on the “Edit Graph” button and select the “Add Line” tab. Search for “Total Federal Outlays” and click on “Add data series.” Customize the data in Line 2 by typing the formula (a/1000)*12 and click on “Apply Formula.”

Suggested by Diego Mendez-Carbajo.

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.