Search for Resources

Competence in data literacy is an essential skill for success in an increasing number of fields and a key soft skill that employers seek when making hiring decisions. Lessons in the Data Literacy Series can be used by university and school faculty and staff to teach students how to reliably identify, interpret, and communicate data. Each lesson reviews data interpretation, analysis, and/or presentation concepts in detail, and is written in an accessible manner to be used by teachers, instructors, and librarians from any field or background.

In this lesson, students learn the definition of gross domestic product (GDP) and the four expenditure categories of GDP. Then, they participate in a readers’ theater about castaways on an island who learn about GDP. Students record examples of items produced on the island that are examples of consumer, government, and investment spending. They recognize that, without trade, there is no net export category for the island.

In this session of the Econ Lowdown webinar series, presenters from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis discuss strategies for using FREDcast™ in the classroom.FREDcast™ is a new interactive game that allows players to test their forecasting skills against friends, classmates, or the whole FREDcast user base. FREDcast players predict four economic indicators: GDP, unemployment, CPI, and payroll employment. Their forecasts are then compared with the actual release numbers and scored for accuracy. Users can assess their performance by viewing their positions on leaderboards within leagues and for all FREDcast players. FREDcast integrates directly with Econ Lowdown so that teachers can create leagues out of existing classrooms and assign FREDcast forecasting to their students.

Looking for a quick way to master the basics of FRED, the Federal Reserve's free economic data website? This online guide to 10 step-by-step activities prepares users to find and graph economic data.

Our standard of living depends on the pace of economic growth. That pace can be enhanced through increased productivity brought about by investment in physical and human capital and advances in technology. In this course, students will learn about these tools to increase productivity and advance our standard of living.

Our standard of living depends on the pace of economic growth. That pace can be enhanced through increased productivity brought about by investment in physical and human capital and advances in technology. In this course, learn about these tools to increase productivity and advance our standard of living.

Read commentary on economic topics including monetary policy, macroeconomic developments, financial issues and SE regional trends.

In this lesson, students will explore how a country's factors of production influence a country's level of GDP.

The Atlanta Fed's GDPNow forecasting model provides a "nowcast" of the official real GDP estimate prior to its release.

This online activity shows how to use FRED®, the Federal Reserve's free online economic data website, to analyze changes in real gross domestic product (GDP) and GDP makeup over time. Following simple instructions, you will locate spending data for the individual components of real GDP, and then combine them into a highly informative area graph. You will also use FRED's ability to stack data and see how trade—imports and exports—contributes to GDP. The resulting customized graph will let you see how economic output varies from year to year.