3.6 KiB
3.6 KiB
US Common Metrics
A comprehensive catalog of the most important U.S. economic and social indicators.
Purpose
This dataset provides a single source of truth for understanding the current state of the U.S. economy and society. Instead of navigating dozens of government websites with different update schedules and formats, you get:
- One master document with 60+ metrics and their current values
- Full provenance - every number traced back to its authoritative source
- Update automation - TypeScript scripts keep metrics current
- Transparency - complete methodology documentation per Substrate philosophy
Quick Start
# View current metrics
cat US-Common-Metrics.md
# Get parseable data
cat us-metrics-current.csv
# Update all metrics (requires API keys)
bun run update.ts
Contents
| File | Description |
|---|---|
US-Common-Metrics.md |
Master document with all metrics, values, sources |
us-metrics-current.csv |
Current values in parseable format |
us-metrics-historical.csv |
Historical time series |
source.md |
Methodology, data lineage, source links |
update.ts |
Automation script to refresh all metrics |
Metric Categories
- Economic Output & Growth - GDP, industrial production, retail sales
- Inflation & Prices - CPI, PCE, gas prices, oil prices
- Employment & Labor - Unemployment, payrolls, jobless claims, quit rate
- Housing - Home prices, mortgage rates, housing starts
- Consumer & Personal Finance - Sentiment, saving rate, credit
- Financial Markets - Interest rates, stock indices, volatility
- Trade & International - Trade balance, USD index
- Government & Fiscal - Federal debt, budget, spending
- Demographics & Social - Population, inequality, poverty
- Health & Crisis - Deaths of despair, air quality, life expectancy
Data Sources
All data comes from authoritative government and institutional sources:
| Source | Metrics | API |
|---|---|---|
| FRED (Federal Reserve) | Most economic indicators | Free API |
| EIA (Energy Information Admin) | Gas prices, oil, energy | Free API |
| Treasury FiscalData | Federal debt, budget, spending | Free API |
| BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) | Employment, wages | Free API |
| Census Bureau | Demographics, housing starts | Free API |
| CDC WONDER | Mortality data | Free access |
| EPA AQS | Air quality | Free API |
See source.md for full documentation of each data source.
Update Schedule
| Frequency | Metrics |
|---|---|
| Daily | Treasury yields, oil prices, stock indices |
| Weekly | Jobless claims, gas prices, mortgage rates |
| Monthly | CPI, employment, retail sales, housing data |
| Quarterly | GDP, home prices, debt service ratio |
| Annual | Population, GINI, poverty rate, mortality |
Requirements
- Bun runtime for automation scripts
- API keys (all free):
FRED_API_KEY- https://fred.stlouisfed.org/docs/api/api_key.htmlEIA_API_KEY- https://www.eia.gov/opendata/register.phpCENSUS_API_KEY- https://api.census.gov/data/key_signup.html
Integration with Substrate
This dataset supports other Substrate components:
- Claims - Back assertions with authoritative data
- Arguments - Reference specific metrics and trends
- Problems - Quantify the scale of issues (e.g., debt, inequality)
- Solutions - Track progress using ground-truth indicators
Credits
Created: 2025-12-01 Maintainer: Daniel Miessler Sources: Federal Reserve, BLS, Census Bureau, EIA, Treasury, CDC, EPA
Mission: Build a trusted foundation of ground-truth data to support human understanding and progress.