April | 2016 | FRED Blog
Skip to main content
Explore Our Apps
FRED
Tools and resources to find and use economic data worldwide
FRASER
U.S. financial, economic, and banking history
ALFRED
Vintages of economic data from specific dates in history
CASSIDI
View banking market concentrations and perform HHI analysis
Release Calendar
Tools
FRED Add-in for Excel
FRED API
FRED Mobile Apps
News
Blog
About
What is FRED
Tutorials
Digital Badges
Contact Us
My Account
Explore Our Apps
Explore Our Apps
FRED
Tools and resources to find and use economic data worldwide
FRASER
U.S. financial, economic, and banking history
ALFRED
Vintages of economic data from specific dates in history
CASSIDI
View banking market concentrations and perform HHI analysis
STL Fed Home Page
Release Calendar
Tools
FRED Add-in for Excel
FRED API
FRED Mobile Apps
News
Blog
About
What is FRED
Tutorials
Digital Badges
Contact Us
Search FRED Blog
Search for:
Recent Posts
US manufacturing employment is down, but each state has its own story
Real GDP growth by state: First quarter 2026
Primary deficits: a short history
What US assets are held overseas?
Durable goods inflation and effective tariffs
Recent St. Louis Fed research
US manufacturing employment is down, but each state has its own story
Real GDP growth by state: First quarter 2026
Primary deficits: a short history
What US assets are held overseas?
Durable goods inflation and effective tariffs
Archives
July 2026
June 2026
May 2026
April 2026
March 2026
February 2026
January 2026
December 2025
November 2025
October 2025
September 2025
August 2025
July 2025
June 2025
May 2025
April 2025
March 2025
February 2025
January 2025
December 2024
November 2024
October 2024
September 2024
August 2024
July 2024
June 2024
May 2024
April 2024
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
The FRED® Blog
← Older posts
Job polarization
Posted on April 28, 2016
The U.S. labor market has been changing, and FRED can help us reveal some patterns. The graph traces four major occupational groups: nonroutine cognitive (green line), nonroutine manual (purple line), routine cognitive (blue line), and routine manual (red line). Managers and computer scientists, for example, fall into the nonroutine cognitive category since their jobs require mental skills and adapting to the project at hand. Manufacturing and transportation-related jobs fall in the routine manual category.
The trend is clear: Middle-skill occupations such as manufacturing and production are declining, and both high-skill and low-skill occupations such as managers and professionals on one end and personal care services on the other are growing. Another way to describe the trend is that routine jobs are decreasing and nonroutine jobs are increasing. Economists refer to this process as “job polarization,” which is driven by both automation and offshoring. Automation reduces routine jobs because repetitive tasks are easily performed by machines or computers. Offshoring reduces low- and mid-skilled labor-intensive jobs because these tasks may be performed more cheaply or efficiently in foreign countries.
How this graph was created: Search in the “Release” view on the FRED home page for the “Employment Situation” report, choose the first link to view the data from the Current Population Survey, and select Table A-13. In the first subsection (Monthly, Employed), select these four series and add them to the graph: Management, professional, and related occupations; Service occupations; Sales and office occupations; and Production, transportation and material moving occupations. For this last series, use the “Add Data Series” feature to add the employment levels for Construction and extraction occupations and Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations. Then edit the group of series with the “Create your own data transformation” option and type a+b+c in the formula box.
Suggested by Maximiliano Dvorkin and Hannah Shell
View on FRED, series used in this post:
LNU02032201, LNU02032204, LNU02032205, LNU02032210, LNU02032211, LNU02032212
Tagged LNU02032201, LNU02032204, LNU02032205, LNU02032210, LNU02032211, LNU02032212
--
GeoFRED reveals the aging of the world
Posted on April 25, 2016
GeoFRED is a young addition to the FRED family, and this first map uses that newer technology to reveal something about our collective age: specifically, the percentage of the population over 65 years of age in 2014, per the World Bank. The darker regions represent higher percentages of an older population. Western countries and advanced economies in general have significantly higher percentages of those over 65 than do many countries in Africa, Asia, and South America. In Germany and Italy, more than 20% of the population is over 65—a trend typical for countries with long life expectancies, low death rates, high levels of education, and good health care.
This older segment of the population wasn’t as large 10 years ago. The 2004 map below shows that no country had more than 20% of its population over 65. Longer lives, migration, and fewer children per woman have changed both sides of this ratio: many more people over 65 and only a slight increase in population, if not a decrease in some countries.
How these maps were created: The original post referenced an interactive map from our now discontinued GeoFRED site. The revised post provides a replacement map from FRED’s new mapping tool. To create FRED maps, go to the data series page in question and look for the green “VIEW MAP” button at the top right of the graph. See this post for instructions to edit a FRED map. Only series with a green map button can be mapped.
Suggested by Yvetta Fortova.
Celebrating 25 years: The road ahead
Posted on April 22, 2016
We’re wrapping up a week-long celebration of FRED’s first 25 years by looking ahead at the next 25 years. FRED does in fact include data about the future, at least in forecast form. The graph here shows potential output and the “non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment” (NAIRU) for the U.S., as estimated by the Congressional Budget Office. FRED also has various forecasts from the International Monetary Fund for GDP growth and inflation rates in some countries.
So, what’s in FRED’s future? There’s no way we can fathom how FRED will look 25 years from now (interplanetary data mapping, maybe?) just as the original creators of FRED 25 years ago could not have imagined our current FRED apps, which let you use a phone to graph data as you’re walking in the park. However, without committing ourselves to all of this, here’s a sneak peak at what we’re planning for over the next few years:
More series. We continually add data series, and we won’t stop doing that any time soon.
Redesign of the FRED series page. We’re revamping the pages that display our famous FRED graphs so novice users can more easily tap into the graphing power of FRED.
FREDcast. The St. Louis Fed is releasing a forecasting league for major U.S. economic aggregates. Create teams with your students or co-workers and let the games begin!
More related content. We’re working to add more curated content for many series, pointing users to related resources.
More help. Improved content (including tutorials) for anyone looking for a little guidance.
Reimagining FRED user accounts. We’ll take a fresh look at modernizing these accounts and adding functions.
Better search results. Yes!
Better mobile apps. We’ll further enhance the iOS apps and gird up the Android apps.
As usual, we’re always open to suggestions about content and function. Use the feedback form on any FRED page (in the right margin) to send us your thoughts.
We hope you’ll still be using FRED in 25 years!
How this graph was created: On the FRED homepage, mouse over the description of FRED in the top center of the page; click on the link to all FRED series. Use the pull-down menu on the top right to sort the results by observation end (Obs End). Select the three series shown here, which appear at or near the top of the search results, and click on “Add to Graph.” Modify the units of potential GDP to “Percent Change from Year Ago.”
Suggested by Christian Zimmermann
View on FRED, series used in this post:
GDPPOT, NROU, NROUST
Tagged GDPPOT, NROU, NROUST
--
← Older posts
Back to Top
Filter
0
Subscribe to the FRED newsletter
Subscribe
Follow us
Saint Louis Fed linkedin page
Saint Louis Fed facebook page
Saint Louis Fed X page
Saint Louis Fed YouTube page
 
Need Help?
Questions or Comments
FRED Help
Legal
Privacy Notice & Policy