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Read the macro charts
Updated 31 October 2026 · 3 min read · 14 Contents
Plain-language meaning
Macro charts plot official economic series: inflation against the policy rate by country, the US unemployment rate, unemployment around the world, the monthly change in US nonfarm payrolls and inflation around the world.
Why it is useful #
They put the main inflation and labour-market series beside each other with their sources and dates, so a user can see the macro backdrop without searching several statistical agencies.
Where it appears and the workflow #
Open Official Data and choose Macro charts (/OfficialData/Macro-Charts; on mobile from the Official Data screen). Choose the country (USA, Euro area, UK, Japan or India) and the 5Y, 10Y or Max range for the inflation-versus-policy-rate chart. Each panel shows its latest value, period and retrieval date with a link to the official source, and a Stale label when the series is behind its expected schedule.
Calculation or source #
Every series is an official statistical or central-bank publication, stored by a background sync and linked from its panel through Open source. CPI inflation is the year-over-year change in each country's consumer price index, the policy rate is the euro-area deposit facility rate, US unemployment and payrolls are the official monthly labour statistics, and annual unemployment uses internationally modelled estimates. The payroll change is calculated from the stored employment level, month over month, and shown against a 150K reference line. History goes back at most 30 years.
Prerequisites, inputs, period and unit #
No sign-in is required. Inflation is year-over-year percent, unemployment is percent of the labour force, payroll change is thousands of jobs per month and the policy rate is percent per year. Monthly series are stale after five months, US labour series after three, annual series after three years and the policy rate after 14 days.
Worked example #
Illustrative only: if inflation is 3.1% and the policy rate is 4.0%, the policy rate is 0.9 percentage points above inflation for that period. A payroll change of +90K sits below the 150K reference line; it is not a forecast of the next release.
What high and low mean #
Higher inflation means prices rose faster over the year; higher unemployment means a larger share of the labour force was without work. The reference lines (2% inflation, 150K payrolls) are reading aids, not targets set by this product.
Positive, negative and zero #
A negative payroll change means employment fell that month; a negative inflation rate is deflation. Zero is a genuine unchanged value.
Limitations and common mistakes #
Recent payroll months are often revised by the statistics agency. Country CPI measures differ — India and the UK carry disclosures — and the annual unemployment estimates are modelled. A common mistake is reading one month as a trend.
Market-specific differences #
Countries publish on different schedules and definitions, so the latest point for one country can be months older than another's.
Suggested next steps #
Choose the Euro area on 10Y and compare inflation with the deposit rate. Then open the payroll panel, note the latest month and its retrieval date, and explain why that month may still be revised.
Educational use only #
This guide explains descriptive research evidence. It is not investment advice, a price prediction, a recommendation, a claim of predictive accuracy, or an instruction to buy, sell, rebalance or place an order.