Learn how interest rates, inflation, jobs, housing, energy, and GDP shape the economy.
Work through each lesson in order to unlock the course quiz.
How a central bank sets rates.
Explore how monetary policy affects markets and the economy.
Tracking inflation through consumer prices.
Understand CPI, cost of living, and impacts on finances.
Inflation excluding food and energy.
Learn about core inflation, why it excludes volatile items, and its policy use.
Measuring consumer spending and inflation.
Learn how PCE tracks spending, inflation, and Fed policy impacts.
Factory prices and inflation signals.
Tracks changes in producer costs to forecast inflationary pressure.
Why governments borrow.
Learn how debt, deficits, and trade shape the economy.
How oil drives prices, trade, and growth.
Learn how production, costs, and geopolitics affect oil prices.
How natural gas signals growth.
Explore how gas production impacts jobs, prices, and policy.
How confident households feel.
Learn how consumer surveys predict spending and market trends.
How unemployment moves up and down.
Weekly report of new unemployment filings is a strong signal on labor trends.
Labor market snapshot.
Monthly nonfarm payrolls, wages, and labor-market signals.
Labor market health in one percentage.
Percent of the labor force unemployed but actively seeking work.
New-home construction and economic demand.
Monthly measure of new home projects that signals builder confidence.
Signals of future construction activity.
Official approvals for new projects forecasting construction and jobs.
Measure of consumer spending and demand.
Tracks store sales to signal economic health and consumer confidence.
The pulse of the private sector.
Discover how earnings can drive a company's investments, job creation, and market performance.
True economic growth adjusted for inflation.
Real GDP strips out inflation to show actual output growth.