Tags in FRED®
What is a Tag?
In FRED®, a **tag** is a descriptive label assigned to economic data series.
Tags describe characteristics such as:
- Geography (e.g., *United States*, *Euro Area*)
- Frequency (e.g., *Monthly*, *Quarterly*)
- Seasonal adjustment (*Seasonally Adjusted*, *Not Seasonally Adjusted*)
- Economic topic (e.g., *Inflation*, *Unemployment*, *GDP*)
- Data source (e.g., *BLS*, *BEA*)
Unlike categories, which organize data into a hierarchical tree, tags are non-hierarchical and flexible.
A single series may have many tags, and the same tag may apply to thousands of series.
Tags function as metadata filters.
Why Tags Matter in Economic Analysis
Tags allow economists to:
- Systematically filter large datasets
- Identify related time series
- Build comparable datasets
- Ensure consistent frequency and adjustment treatment
- Discover related economic indicators
Because FRED contains hundreds of thousands of series, tags provide a scalable discovery mechanism.
Tags vs. Categories
| Category | Tag | |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | Hierarchical | Flat |
| Purpose | Organize by domain | Describe attributes |
| Example | “Labor Market” → “Unemployment Rate” | “Monthly”, “Seasonally Adjusted”, “United States” |
| Use Case | Topic navigation | Attribute filtering |
Example: Inflation
Consider the Consumer Price Index (CPIAUCSL).
It might carry tags such as:
- Inflation
- CPI
- Monthly
- Seasonally Adjusted
- United States
An economist studying inflation may want:
- Only monthly series
- Only seasonally adjusted series
- Only U.S. data
Tags allow precise filtering without knowing specific series IDs.
Example: Cross-Country Comparison
Suppose a researcher wants to compare unemployment rates across OECD countries.
They might filter by:
- Unemployment
- Monthly
- Seasonally Adjusted
Then further refine by geography tags.
This ensures:
- Comparable frequency
- Comparable seasonal treatment
- Consistent conceptual definitions
Without tags, this process would require manual inspection of each series.
How Economists Use Tags in Practice
In research workflows, tags are often used to:
- Construct reproducible data pipelines
- Identify all series within a conceptual grouping
- Screen for relevant indicators in a topic area
- Maintain consistency across longitudinal studies
Tags are particularly useful when:
- Exploring unfamiliar domains
- Designing new empirical projects
- Building automated reporting systems
- Conducting policy analysis
Summary
Tags in FRED are descriptive metadata labels assigned to time series.
They allow economists to:
- Filter data by attributes
- Discover related indicators
- Maintain methodological consistency
- Build structured datasets
While categories provide structure, tags provide flexibility.
In large economic datasets, tags are essential for scalable discovery.