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Monthly nominal and real GDP in billions of USD, seasonally adjusted annual rate
gdpm.csvDataset
Monthly GDP
Monthly estimates of US nominal and real GDP, combining quarterly BEA data with Fed nowcasts. Downloadable CSV updated daily.
Overview
Monthly GDP provides a way to put other economic data into context. GDP is the broadest measure of economic activity, but it's only published quarterly, with a lag of several months. This creates a gap when comparing recent data to overall economic scale.
For example, suppose you want to track education spending over time. The latest spending figure might be more recent than the latest GDP release. Without a monthly GDP estimate, you're left comparing raw dollar amounts—which can be misleading. Headlines might declare that "spending is at record highs" or "increasing rapidly," when in fact spending as a share of GDP has fallen over time. The denominator matters.
The same applies to credit card debt, the trade deficit, wage income, the size of the stock market, or any other dollar-denominated measure. This tool provides simple monthly estimates of US nominal and real GDP, updated daily and freely available for download, making it easy to express data relative to overall economic activity.
Approach
The monthly GDP series is constructed by interpolating quarterly data to monthly frequency:
1
Quarterly GDP
Start with official nominal and real GDP from BEA (via FRED).
2
Current Quarter
Estimate the latest quarter using Atlanta Fed GDPNow (real growth) and Cleveland Fed inflation nowcast to derive nominal growth.
3
Interpolate
Assign quarterly values to mid-quarter months, then linearly interpolate. This preserves the quarterly average.
4
Rebase (Real series)
Convert historical real GDP into current dollars, so past values reflect today's price level.
The chart below illustrates the interpolation process. The stepped gray line shows published quarterly GDP values. The smooth red line shows the monthly interpolated series. The most recent quarter includes the nowcast estimate.
Quarterly vs. Monthly Nominal GDP
Data Sources
- Quarterly Nominal GDP: FRED (GDP)
- Quarterly Real GDP: FRED (GDPC1)
- Real GDP Nowcast: Atlanta Fed GDPNow
- Inflation Nowcast: Cleveland Fed Inflation Nowcasting
Related
For interactive charts of US economic indicators, see the indicators page. For a comprehensive 250+ chart view of the US economy, see the US Chartbook. Upcoming release dates for the underlying GDP data are tracked in the Release Calendar.
The data file is updated daily. Source code is available on GitHub.