The interest rate set by the Federal Reserve is a crucial tool for promoting economic conditions that meet the mandate established by the United States Congress, which includes high employment, low and stable inflation, sustainable economic growth, and the moderation of long-term interest rates. The interest rates determined by the Fed directly influence the cost of credit, making financing either more accessible or more restrictive. When interest rates are low, there is a greater incentive for consumers to purchase homes through mortgages, finance automobiles, or undertake home renovations. Additionally, businesses are encouraged to invest in expanding their operations, whether by purchasing new equipment, modernizing facilities, or hiring more workers. Conversely, higher interest rates tend to curb such activity, discouraging borrowing and slowing economic expansion.

The dataset analyzed contains information on the economic conditions in the United States on a monthly basis since 1954, including the federal funds rate, which represents the percentage at which financial institutions trade reserves held at the Federal Reserve with each other in the interbank market overnight. This rate is determined by the market but is directly influenced by the Federal Reserve through open market operations to reach the established target. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meets eight times a year to determine the federal funds rate target, which has been defined within a range with upper and lower limits since December 2008.

Furthermore, real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is calculated based on the seasonally adjusted quarterly rate of change in the economy, using chained 2009 dollars as a reference. The unemployment rate represents the seasonally adjusted percentage of the labor force that is unemployed. Meanwhile, the inflation rate is determined by the monthly change in the Consumer Price Index, excluding food and energy prices for a more stable analysis of core inflation.

The interest rate data was sourced from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis' economic data portal, while GDP information was provided by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, and unemployment and inflation data were made available by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The analysis of this data helps to understand how economic growth, the unemployment rate, and inflation influence the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decisions. Additionally, it allows for a study of the evolution of interest rate policies over time and raises the question of how predictable the Fed’s future decisions may be. Based on observed trends, it is possible to speculate whether the target range set in March 2017 will be maintained, lowered, or increased, considering the prevailing economic context and the challenges faced in conducting U.S. monetary policy.

The Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) is normally a triennial cross-sectional survey of U.S. families. The survey data include information on families balance sheets, pensions, income, and demographic characteristics. Information is also included from related surveys of pension providers and the earlier such surveys conducted by the Federal Reserve Board. No other study for the country collects comparable information. Data from the SCF are widely used, from analysis at the Federal Reserve and other branches of government to scholarly work at the major economic research centers.The survey has contained a panel element over two periods. Respondents to the 1983 survey were re-interviewed in 1986 and 1989. Respondents to the 2007 survey were re-interviewed in 2009.The study is sponsored by the Federal Reserve Board in cooperation with the Department of the Treasury. Since 1992, data have been collected by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago.

The H.6 release, published weekly, provides measures of the monetary aggregates (M1 and M2) and their components.M1 and M2 are progressively more inclusive measures of money: M1 is included in M2.M1, the more narrowly defined measure, consists of the most liquid forms of money, namely currency and checkable deposits.The non-M1 components of M2 are primarily household holdings of savings deposits, small time deposits, and retail money market mutual funds.Monthly data are available back to January 1959; for most series, weekly data are available back to January 1975.

Content

More details about each file are in the individual file descriptions.

Context

This is a dataset from the Federal Reserve hosted by the Federal Reserve Economic Database (FRED). FRED has a data platform found here and they update their information according to the frequency that the data updates. Explore the Federal Reserve using Kaggle and all of the data sources available through the Federal Reserve organization page!

• Update Frequency: This dataset is updated daily.

Acknowledgements

This dataset is maintained using FRED's API and Kaggle's API.

Cover photo by Pepi Stojanovski on Unsplash
Unsplash Images are distributed under a unique Unsplash License.

Money Supply M2 in the United States increased to 22298.10 USD Billion in October from 22212.50 USD Billion in September of 2025. This dataset provides - United States Money Supply M2 - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

This dataset represents a snapshot of the FRED catalog, captured on 2025-03-24.

What is FRED? As per the FRED website,

Short for Federal Reserve Economic Data, FRED is an online database consisting of hundreds of thousands of economic data time series from scores of national, international, public, and private sources. FRED, created and maintained by the Research Department at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, goes far beyond simply providing data: It combines data with a powerful mix of tools that help the user understand, interact with, display, and disseminate the data. In essence, FRED helps users tell their data stories. The purpose of this article is to guide the potential (or current) FRED user through the various aspects and tools of the database.

The FRED database is an abolute gold mine of economic data time series. Thousands of such series are published on the FRED website, organized by category and avialable for viewing and downloading. In fact, a number of these economic datasets have been uploaded to kaggle. With in the current notebook, however, we are not interested in the individual time series; rather, we are focused on catalog itself.

The FRED API has been used for gaining access to the catalog. The catalog consists of two files

• categories.csv - the heirarchy of categories used for organizing the time series
• series.csv - the list of avialable time series themselves

A given category is identified by a category_id. And, in a similar fashion, a given series is identified by a series_id. In a given category, one may find both a group of series and a set of sub-categories. As such every series record contains a category_id to identify the immediate category under which it is found category record contains a parent_id to indicate where in the category heirarchy it resides

Context

The Federal Reserve sets interest rates to promote conditions that achieve the mandate set by the Congress — high employment, low and stable inflation, sustainable economic growth, and moderate long-term interest rates. Interest rates set by the Fed directly influence the cost of borrowing money. Lower interest rates encourage more people to obtain a mortgage for a new home or to borrow money for an automobile or for home improvement. Lower rates encourage businesses to borrow funds to invest in expansion such as purchasing new equipment, updating plants, or hiring more workers. Higher interest rates restrain such borrowing by consumers and businesses.

Content

This dataset includes data on the economic conditions in the United States on a monthly basis since 1954. The federal funds rate is the interest rate at which depository institutions trade federal funds (balances held at Federal Reserve Banks) with each other overnight. The rate that the borrowing institution pays to the lending institution is determined between the two banks; the weighted average rate for all of these types of negotiations is called the effective federal funds rate. The effective federal funds rate is determined by the market but is influenced by the Federal Reserve through open market operations to reach the federal funds rate target. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meets eight times a year to determine the federal funds target rate; the target rate transitioned to a target range with an upper and lower limit in December 2008. The real gross domestic product is calculated as the seasonally adjusted quarterly rate of change in the gross domestic product based on chained 2009 dollars. The unemployment rate represents the number of unemployed as a seasonally adjusted percentage of the labor force. The inflation rate reflects the monthly change in the Consumer Price Index of products excluding food and energy.

Acknowledgements

The interest rate data was published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis' economic data portal. The gross domestic product data was provided by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis; the unemployment and consumer price index data was provided by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Inspiration

How does economic growth, unemployment, and inflation impact the Federal Reserve's interest rates decisions? How has the interest rate policy changed over time? Can you predict the Federal Reserve's next decision? Will the target range set in March 2017 be increased, decreased, or remain the same?

The benchmark interest rate in the United States was last recorded at 4 percent. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United States Fed Funds Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

The H.8 release provides an estimated weekly aggregate balance sheet for all commercial banks in the United States. The release also includes separate balance sheet aggregations for several bank groups: domestically chartered commercial banks; large domestically chartered commercial banks; small domestically chartered commercial banks; and foreign-related institutions in the United States. Foreign-related institutions include U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks as well as Edge Act and agreement corporations. Published weekly, the release is typically available to the public by 4:15 p.m. each Friday. If Friday is a federal holiday, then the data are released on Thursday.The H.8 release is primarily based on data that are reported weekly by a sample of approximately 875 domestically chartered banks and foreign-related institutions. As of December 2009, U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks accounted for about 60 of the weekly reporters and domestically chartered banks made up the rest of the sample. Data for domestically chartered commercial banks and foreign-related institutions that do not report weekly are estimated at a weekly frequency based on quarterly Call Report data.

The Federal Reserve Banks pay interest on reserve balances of depository institutions. The Board of Governors has prescribed rules governing the payment of interest by Federal Reserve Banks in Regulation D (Reserve Requirements of Depository Institutions, 12 CFR Part 204). The rate paid on reserves balances is the interest on reserve balance (IORB) rate. The dataset containing the IORB rate is generally updated each business day at 4:30 p.m., Eastern Time, with the next business day's IORB rate. The dataset is not updated on federal holidays. For more information on interest on reserve balances please refer to Federal Reserve Board - Interest on Reserve Balances.

Money Supply M0 in the United States increased to 53615000 USD Million in October from 5478000 USD Million in September of 2025. This dataset provides - United States Money Supply M0 - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

The FR 2420 is a transaction-based report that collects daily liability data on federal funds, borrowings from non-exempt entities, Eurodollars, and certificates of deposits (CDs) and time deposits (TDs) from (1) domestically chartered commercial banks and thrifts that have $18 billion or more in total assets, or $5 billion or more in assets and meet certain unsecured borrowing activity thresholds, and (2) U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks with total third-party assets of $2.5 billion or more.

Content

More details about each file are in the individual file descriptions.

Context

This is a dataset from the Federal Reserve hosted by the Federal Reserve Economic Database (FRED). FRED has a data platform found here and they update their information according to the frequency that the data updates. Explore the Federal Reserve using Kaggle and all of the data sources available through the Federal Reserve organization page!

• Update Frequency: This dataset is updated daily.

Acknowledgements

This dataset is maintained using FRED's API and Kaggle's API.

Cover photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash
Unsplash Images are distributed under a unique Unsplash License.

Money Supply M1 in the United States increased to 19004.20 USD Billion in October from 18912.80 USD Billion in September of 2025. This dataset provides - United States Money Supply M1 - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Content

More details about each file are in the individual file descriptions.

Context

This is a dataset from the Federal Reserve hosted by the Federal Reserve Economic Database (FRED). FRED has a data platform found here and they update their information according to the frequency that the data updates. Explore the Federal Reserve using Kaggle and all of the data sources available through the Federal Reserve organization page!

• Update Frequency: This dataset is updated daily.

Acknowledgements

This dataset is maintained using FRED's API and Kaggle's API.

Cover photo by Michelle Spollen on Unsplash
Unsplash Images are distributed under a unique Unsplash License.

Content

More details about each file are in the individual file descriptions.

Context

This is a dataset from the Federal Reserve hosted by the Federal Reserve Economic Database (FRED). FRED has a data platform found here and they update their information according to the frequency that the data updates. Explore the Federal Reserve using Kaggle and all of the data sources available through the Federal Reserve organization page!

• Update Frequency: This dataset is updated daily.

Acknowledgements

This dataset is maintained using FRED's API and Kaggle's API.

Cover photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash
Unsplash Images are distributed under a unique Unsplash License.

Content

More details about each file are in the individual file descriptions.

Context

This is a dataset from the Federal Reserve hosted by the Federal Reserve Economic Database (FRED). FRED has a data platform found here and they update their information according to the frequency that the data updates. Explore the Federal Reserve using Kaggle and all of the data sources available through the Federal Reserve organization page!

• Update Frequency: This dataset is updated daily.

Acknowledgements

This dataset is maintained using FRED's API and Kaggle's API.

Cover photo by Jesse Gardner on Unsplash
Unsplash Images are distributed under a unique Unsplash License.

Content

This dataset has no description from FRED.

Context

This is a dataset hosted by the Federal Reserve Economic Database (FRED). The organization has a data platform found here and they update their information according the amount of data that is brought in. Explore FRED using Kaggle and all of the data sources available through the FRED organization page!

• Update Frequency: This dataset is updated daily.

• Observation Start: 2002-12-18

• Observation End : 2018-08-08

Acknowledgements

This dataset is maintained using FRED's APIs and Kaggle's API.

Cover photo by Jongsun Lee on Unsplash
Unsplash Images are distributed under a unique Unsplash License.

Content

More details about each file are in the individual file descriptions.

Context

This is a dataset from the Federal Reserve hosted by the Federal Reserve Economic Database (FRED). FRED has a data platform found here and they update their information according to the frequency that the data updates. Explore the Federal Reserve using Kaggle and all of the data sources available through the Federal Reserve organization page!

• Update Frequency: This dataset is updated daily.

Acknowledgements

This dataset is maintained using FRED's API and Kaggle's API.

Cover photo by Alex Ronsdorf on Unsplash
Unsplash Images are distributed under a unique Unsplash License.

Content

More details about each file are in the individual file descriptions.

Context

This is a dataset from the Federal Reserve hosted by the Federal Reserve Economic Database (FRED). FRED has a data platform found here and they update their information according to the frequency that the data updates. Explore the Federal Reserve using Kaggle and all of the data sources available through the Federal Reserve organization page!

• Update Frequency: This dataset is updated daily.

Acknowledgements

This dataset is maintained using FRED's API and Kaggle's API.