U.S. economic data
The U.S. economy in simple charts
Consumer prices were up 3.7% from a year earlier in Sep 2026, unemployment was 4.2% and the effective fed funds rate averaged 3.75% in Sep 2026. OpenEcon charts 249 key indicators from U.S. government agencies and the Federal Reserve, retrieved from FRED®, with a plain-English note on what each one means.
Data snapshot taken Oct 27, 2026, 6:41 PM EDT. Each card shows the date of its latest release.
Key indicators
CPI inflation
3.7%
12-month change
336.298 Sep 2026 · was 3.4% in Aug 2026
View chart →Unemployment rate
4.2%
Percent
+0.1 pt Sep 2026 vs. Aug 2026
View chart →Nonfarm payrolls
159,044K
Thousands of persons
+29K Sep 2026 vs. Aug 2026
View chart →Fed funds rate
3.75%
Percent
+0.12 pt Sep 2026 vs. Aug 2026
View chart →10-year Treasury yield
5.00%
Percent
0.00 pt Oct 26, 2026 vs. Oct 23, 2026
View chart →Real GDP growth
2.2%
Percent change at annual rate
-0.3 pt Q2 2026 vs. Q1 2026
View chart →Regular gas price
$4.269
Dollars per gallon
-0.4% Oct 26, 2026 vs. Oct 19, 2026
View chart →Housing starts
1,221K
Thousands of units, annual rate
-5.2% Sep 2026 vs. Aug 2026
View chart →Inflation shows the change in the price index from a year earlier. Other cards compare the latest reading with the one before it. Not financial advice.
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Browse by topic
Inflation
20 indicators, including CPI inflation, Core CPI, CPI-U (unadjusted).
See inflation data →Prices by category
27 indicators, including Grocery prices (CPI food at home), Restaurant prices (CPI food away from home), Meat, poultry, fish and egg prices (CPI).
See prices by category data →Grocery & utility prices
11 indicators, including Egg prices (dozen), Milk prices (gallon), Bread prices (pound).
See grocery & utility prices data →Jobs
17 indicators, including Unemployment rate, U-6 underemployment, Nonfarm payrolls.
See jobs data →Unemployment details
11 indicators, including Unemployment rate: men, Unemployment rate: women, Unemployment rate: White.
See unemployment details data →Jobs by industry
15 indicators, including Private-sector jobs, Government jobs, Federal government jobs.
See jobs by industry data →Wages & productivity
10 indicators, including Average hourly earnings, Average hourly earnings: production and nonsupervisory, Average weekly earnings.
See wages & productivity data →Interest rates
17 indicators, including Fed funds rate, Fed target rate (upper), Prime rate.
See interest rates data →Housing
18 indicators, including Housing starts, Building permits, New home sales.
See housing data →GDP & growth
15 indicators, including Real GDP growth, GDP (nominal), Real GDP.
See gdp & growth data →Industry & orders
11 indicators, including Industrial production, Capacity utilization, Manufacturing output.
See industry & orders data →Trade
5 indicators, including Trade balance (goods and services), Exports of goods and services, Imports of goods and services.
See trade data →Federal budget & debt
11 indicators, including Federal debt, Federal debt to GDP, Federal budget deficit.
See federal budget & debt data →Money & the dollar
14 indicators, including M2 money supply, M1 money supply, Fed balance sheet.
See money & the dollar data →Credit & debt
15 indicators, including Credit card interest rate, Consumer credit, Revolving credit (credit cards).
See credit & debt data →Consumers
10 indicators, including Consumer spending (PCE), Personal saving rate, Real disposable income.
See consumers data →Retail sales
12 indicators, including Retail sales, Retail sales excluding restaurants, Retail sales excluding autos.
See retail sales data →Energy
10 indicators, including WTI crude oil, Brent crude oil, Regular gas price.
See energy data →Unemployment rate by state
In Sep 2026, state unemployment rates ranged from 2.0% in South Dakota to 5.6% in the District of Columbia.Compare all 50 states and DC with the national rate, the change over a year and 12-month job growth.
Inflation calculator
See what a dollar amount from any year since 1913 is worth today, using the Consumer Price Index from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Frequently asked questions
- Where does OpenEcon get its data?
- Every chart uses data retrieved from FRED®, the economic database run by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Each series is credited to the agency that originally publishes it, such as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for the CPI and the unemployment rate. We only use series that FRED marks as public domain.
- How current are the numbers?
- We copy the data from FRED in snapshots, and every page shows the date of the latest observation and when the snapshot was taken. Official releases follow their own schedules: the jobs report and CPI come out monthly, GDP quarterly, jobless claims weekly and Treasury yields daily.
- What is the difference between CPI and PCE inflation?
- The CPI from the Bureau of Labor Statistics measures prices paid out of pocket by urban households. The PCE price index from the Bureau of Economic Analysis covers a broader set of spending, including costs paid on people's behalf such as employer health insurance. The Federal Reserve sets its 2% inflation goal in terms of PCE.
- What does "seasonally adjusted" mean?
- Seasonal adjustment removes the regular ups and downs that repeat every year, such as holiday hiring or summer gas demand, so changes from one month to the next reflect real shifts rather than the calendar.
- Why do past numbers sometimes change?
- Agencies revise their estimates as more complete information arrives. GDP, payrolls and retail sales are routinely revised in later months, so a value shown here can differ from the first figure reported in the news.
- Is this financial advice?
- No. OpenEcon shows public economic data and plain-English explanations for general information only. It is not investment, tax or financial advice.
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