Appendix B — Economic Data Sources

A guide to the free public data sources referenced throughout this textbook.

U.S. Federal Sources

FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) — fred.stlouisfed.org The single most useful data tool. 800,000+ series from 100+ sources. Search by concept or series ID. Key series: UNRATE, CIVPART, CPIAUCSL, GDPC1, FEDFUNDS, PAYEMS, MEHOINUSA672N, DGS10, M2SL, CSUSHPINSA.

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) — bls.gov Employment Situation (monthly jobs report), CPI, PPI, JOLTS, employment by industry. Local area data at bls.gov/lau.

Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) — bea.gov GDP (quarterly), personal income, consumer spending, trade statistics, regional GDP by metro area.

Census Bureau — data.census.gov American Community Survey (income, poverty, demographics, housing), County Business Patterns, population estimates.

Congressional Budget Office (CBO) — cbo.gov Budget projections, multiplier estimates, minimum wage analyses, healthcare cost projections.

International Sources

World Bank — data.worldbank.org GDP, poverty, development indicators for 200+ countries. World Development Indicators (WDI).

International Monetary Fund (IMF) — imf.org/data World Economic Outlook, Global Financial Stability Report, fiscal data.

OECD — data.oecd.org Comparative data for 38 member countries: GDP, employment, education, health, inequality.

Our World in Data — ourworldindata.org The best free data visualization platform. Covers poverty, health, climate, energy, education, and more.

World Inequality Database — wid.world Income and wealth inequality data (Piketty-Saez series and international extensions).

Specialized Sources

Opportunity Insights — opportunityinsights.org Intergenerational mobility data by county/metro (Raj Chetty's team).

IGM Forum — igmchicago.org Ongoing surveys of leading economists on contested policy questions.

IRENA — irena.org Renewable energy cost data (levelized cost of energy).

International Energy Agency (IEA) — iea.org Energy production, consumption, and emissions data.

EPA — epa.gov Environmental data, greenhouse gas inventories, social cost of carbon estimates.

How to use these sources

  1. Start with FRED for any U.S. economic data question
  2. Use Census for demographic and local data
  3. Use World Bank / Our World in Data for international comparisons
  4. Use IGM Forum for what economists actually think about contested questions
  5. Cite your sources — always note the series ID, date accessed, and original source agency