Seven Top Data Social Media Posts This Year

What is your go-to source for receiving news updates?

According to the Reuters Institute 2023 Digital News Report (PDF), 72% of Americans say they get news digitally (through online publications and subscriptions, streaming platforms, social media, etc.). Of those getting news online, 48% say they receive news updates on social media.

Social media’s rise more than a decade ago has provided organizations with the ability to communicate directly with the public. Whether to inform, engage or help organizations gain valuable insights into audiences, social media platforms have proven to be a fast, inexpensive and effective way to increase external communication.

Economic Indicators in the Forefront This Year

Keeping in mind your answer to the question at the beginning of this blog post, here’s a second: Which economic indicators do you care about most?

While the answer to the second question is largely subjective, for followers of St. Louis Fed social media accounts, measures of inflation, interest rates, gross domestic product (GDP), and the labor market and unemployment have been front and center over the last year.

In that time, the Fed has raised interest rates to combat high inflation, the housing supply and the labor market in the U.S. have been tight, and banking industry news earlier in 2023 drew attention to stress in financial markets.

Among our most informative and sought out social media content are real-time, pulse of the economy updates featuring charts and data from FRED, the St. Louis Fed’s signature free online database consisting of hundreds of thousands of economic data series maintained by our Research Division.

The two earlier questions underline how two powerful tools can work in tandem to meet the public where they are with the information they want. FRED, along with many other resources and publications that provide data and analysis from St. Louis Fed experts, drives our mission on social media to be a credible, reliable and expert source of information.

Top FRED Social Media Posts and What They Show

Here’s a look at some of the most popular and engaged with economic data content posted on the St. Louis Fed’s account on X, formerly known as Twitter. Results were based on engagements per post in 2023 through July 15. Engagements are the total number of times a user interacts with a post, including clicks anywhere on the tweet, retweets, likes, replies, and follows, as well as tweet expansion and link, media, hashtag and profile photo clicks.

Economic News Index: Real GDP “Nowcast”—Posted Feb. 19

The Economic News Index uses economic content from key monthly data releases to forecast the real GDP growth during a quarter. The index, created by St. Louis Fed researchers, tracks whether those data have come in stronger, weaker or as expected during the quarter, with the last projection before the Bureau of Economic Analysis release of the advance estimate of GDP. GDP is a gauge of our economy’s overall size and health, and “real” GDP is adjusted for inflation. A popular February tweet noted the Economic News Index estimated growth at -1.1% in the first quarter. The final forecasted value for that quarter was for 0.56% growth.

Unemployment Rate–Posted Feb. 3

The nation’s unemployment rate measures the percentage of workers in the labor force who are not currently employed but are actively looking for work. Each month, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announces the total numbers of employed and unemployed people in the United States. A February tweet on the unemployment rate pointed out that the 3.4% rate in January was the lowest in more than 50 years.

Median Sales Price for New Houses Sold—Posted Feb. 26

As of July 15, social media content on the median sales price for new houses sold had the most engagements in a slew of housing data reported by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. FRED tracks other popular housing data such as new residential sales, housing permits and housing starts. A February post drew attention to an 8.2% decline in the price the previous month.

St. Louis Fed Financial Stress Index—Posted March 23

This financial stress index is a tool policymakers can use to monitor financial market stress. The average value of the index (normal stress) is designated as zero. Values below zero indicate below-average stress, with values above zero indicating above-average stress. St. Louis Fed researchers have adjusted the indicators used for the index and introduced new versions. The most popular tweet to the index in the first half of this year highlighted an increase in stress shown by the current version, No. 4. The index in later months showed values below zero.

Personal Saving Rate—Posted Jan. 29

Updated monthly, the nation’s personal saving rate is the ratio of saving to disposable personal income. The personal saving rate is from the personal income and outlays report released monthly by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In December 2022, the personal saving rate rose to 3.4% from November’s 2.9%, a January social media post noted.

Total U.S. Consumer Credit—Posted July 15

Total U.S. consumer credit measures outstanding consumer credit that requires installment payments. The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System releases updated consumer credit data around the fifth business day of each month.

“Vintage” data for this data series and many others in FRED are housed in ALFRED (Archival FRED). ALFRED archives data in FRED by adding the data from the date when values were originally released, including revisions. A July 15 social media post about U.S. consumer credit noted the smaller increase in May than in the previous month, as well as a downward revision to the April data.

Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance Benefits—Posted June 10

Initial claims refers to the claims filed by workers after a separation from employers. The claims are requests to be determined eligible for unemployment insurance programs. The four-week moving average of initial claims, among other data, is also reported weekly by the U.S. Employment and Training Administration at the Department of Labor. A June 10 post noted increases in both initial claims and the moving average the previous week.

More about FRED

Interested in accessing more economic data? FRED has 819,000-plus data series to keep you updated and informed on the U.S. economy. Our FRED Blog features explanations highlighting various data and history.

Want to access more data but unsure of how to use FRED? Check out the How to Use FRED playlist on the St. Louis Fed YouTube channel. Here you’ll find video tutorials on formatting and editing graphs, customizing data, changing data frequency and much more.