{
  "data_version": "seed-0.1 · 2026-08-28",
  "source": "https://finance.foundation",
  "license": "CC BY 4.0",
  "collection": "indicators",
  "count": 8,
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "gdp",
      "name": "Gross Domestic Product (GDP)",
      "unit": "% growth / level",
      "frequency": "Quarterly",
      "sources": "BEA, Eurostat, national statistics offices, IMF",
      "description": "Total value of goods and services produced. The broadest measure of economic activity; two consecutive quarters of contraction is the informal definition of recession."
    },
    {
      "id": "cpi-inflation",
      "name": "Consumer Price Inflation (CPI)",
      "unit": "% YoY",
      "frequency": "Monthly",
      "sources": "BLS, Eurostat, national statistics offices",
      "description": "Change in the price of a consumption basket. The primary target variable of modern central banking (most target ~2%)."
    },
    {
      "id": "policy-rate",
      "name": "Central Bank Policy Rate",
      "unit": "%",
      "frequency": "Per meeting (6–8×/year)",
      "sources": "Federal Reserve, ECB, BoJ, BoE, PBoC",
      "description": "The rate at which the central bank lends or remunerates reserves. Sets the floor of the entire yield curve and the price of money economy-wide."
    },
    {
      "id": "unemployment-rate",
      "name": "Unemployment Rate",
      "unit": "%",
      "frequency": "Monthly",
      "sources": "BLS, Eurostat, ILO",
      "description": "Share of the labor force without work but seeking it. One half of the Fed's dual mandate; a lagging indicator of the cycle."
    },
    {
      "id": "pmi",
      "name": "Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI)",
      "unit": "Index (50 = neutral)",
      "frequency": "Monthly",
      "sources": "S&P Global, ISM, Caixin",
      "description": "Survey of purchasing managers on new orders, output and employment. The most watched leading indicator; above 50 signals expansion."
    },
    {
      "id": "yield-curve",
      "name": "Yield Curve (10Y–2Y spread)",
      "unit": "basis points",
      "frequency": "Continuous",
      "sources": "US Treasury, FRED",
      "description": "Difference between long and short government yields. Inversion (negative spread) has preceded every modern US recession, with long and variable lags."
    },
    {
      "id": "m2",
      "name": "M2 Money Supply",
      "unit": "% YoY / level",
      "frequency": "Monthly",
      "sources": "Federal Reserve, ECB",
      "description": "Cash, deposits and near-money. Its expansion and contraction frame the liquidity backdrop for asset prices."
    },
    {
      "id": "current-account",
      "name": "Current Account Balance",
      "unit": "% of GDP",
      "frequency": "Quarterly",
      "sources": "IMF, national central banks",
      "description": "Trade plus income flows with the rest of the world. Persistent deficits or surpluses drive currency valuations and global capital flows."
    }
  ]
}