Which tools let you chart stocks alongside inflation, interest rates and unemployment?
November 6, 2026
FRED, TradingView and Koyfin all let you chart a stock or index next to inflation, the unemployment rate and Treasury yields. FRED is free but has no individual stocks, only index levels such as the S&P 500. TradingView adds economic series and company financials to any price chart. Koyfin puts revenue growth, earnings estimates and P/E on the same chart as the economic data.
Tools to chart stocks with economic data
- FRED (St. Louis Fed): Chart most US economic series and many international ones for free, next to the S&P 500 for the last 10 years. Its archive, ALFRED, shows each series as it was first published.
- TradingView: Add economic series such as the unemployment rate to any stock chart, along with company financials such as revenue. It has a free plan and paid plans.
- Koyfin: Put a company’s revenue growth, earnings estimates and P/E on the same chart as inflation, unemployment and Treasury yields. Then save the chart as a template and apply it to any stock. It has a free plan and paid plans.
- Excel or Python: Download the series you need and chart them any way you like. It’s free, but you update the data yourself each time.
Which economic series to chart, and in what form
Most searches about stocks and the economy come down to five series: inflation, jobs, the Fed funds rate, Treasury yields and real yields. The table shows each one’s FRED ticker, the form to plot it in and when new data comes out.
| Series | FRED ticker | Plot it as | New data |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPI inflation (headline / core) | CPIAUCSL / CPILFESL | Year-over-year % change | Monthly, around the middle of the next month |
| Unemployment rate | UNRATE | Level, in % | Monthly, usually the first Friday of the next month |
| Nonfarm payrolls | PAYEMS | Monthly change in jobs | Same day as the unemployment rate |
| Fed funds rate | FEDFUNDS (monthly) / DFF (daily) | Level, in % | After each of the Fed’s eight scheduled meetings a year |
| 2-year and 10-year Treasury yields | DGS2 / DGS10 | Level, in % | Daily |
| 10-year real yield and breakeven inflation | DFII10 / T10YIE | Level, in % | Daily |
The chart: four settings
Plot inflation as the year-over-year change in CPI
The CPI index rises almost every year. Plotting CPI next to a rising stock price can make them look related simply because both rose over time.
The year-over-year rate (9.1% in June 2022, for example) is the number the Fed and the market react to.
Give each unit its own axis, and compare the size of moves on one axis
A stock in dollars and an unemployment rate in percent need separate y-axes. Each axis stretches its line to fill the chart, so any two series can look related.
To compare the size of the moves, convert both to percent change from the same start date and put them on one axis. For example, since November 2016, Walmart’s share price is up about 550%, while consumer prices rose about 39%.
Put the company’s results next to its price
A share price moves on what investors expect a year or more ahead. Revenue shows what the economy actually did to the business.
Revenue growth year over year next to unemployment tells you how cyclical the company is. The price next to unemployment mostly tells you when investors changed their minds.
For example, Walmart’s revenue growth stayed near or above zero through both the 2008 and 2020 recessions while unemployment spiked, the pattern of a defensive business.
Start the chart before 2008, or at least before 2020
A chart that starts in 2020 covers one unusual cycle: unemployment jumped to 14.8% in April 2020 and fell back below 4% within two years. Two recessions and one inflation spike show which relationships repeat. The Walmart chart above starts in 2006, so it covers the 2008 recession, the 2020 shutdowns and the 2022 inflation spike.
Where macro charts go wrong, and how to avoid it
A macro chart should help you decide whether an economic signal changes what you buy or sell. Revised data can show signals investors couldn’t see at the time. Check publication delays, rate expectations and real yields to understand what the chart tells you.
The chart shows numbers investors didn’t have yet
The check: before trading on an indicator, move each point forward to its publication date and compare it with the first-published numbers in ALFRED.
Why the usual chart misses it: on a daily stock chart, the economic series can appear to move before the stock. But investors hadn’t seen that economic number when the stock moved. Revisions can also change the pattern you see, so a signal that looks reliable in the revised data may never have been usable.
- FRED dates September’s CPI at September 1, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes it in mid-October, about six weeks later.
- Payroll counts are revised every month and again each year. The preliminary benchmark revision published in September 2025 lowered payrolls for the year to March 2025 by about 911,000.
For example, the CPI chart above shows September’s reading of 336.30 dated September 1, while Koyfin’s economic calendar shows it was published on October 14.
What to do: check each release date in Koyfin’s economic calendar. Clicking an event shows the actual, consensus and previous figures. Koyfin charts don’t shift a series in time, so run the full test in a spreadsheet. Use the unemployment rate rather than payrolls, because it is revised much less.
Stocks react to the expected path of rates
The check: watch for the 2-year Treasury yield falling below the Fed funds rate, which signals that investors expect cuts.
Why the Fed funds rate misses it: prices already reflect the level of rates, and they move as investors change their expectations for future rates. The Fed funds rate alone doesn’t show those expectations. The 2-year yield does, since it moves when investors change their view of the next two years of Fed policy, usually before the Fed acts.
For example, the Fed funds rate reached 5.25% to 5.50% in July 2023, the highest since 2001. But the 2-year yield had already dropped below it, and the S&P 500 rose about 24% that year, more than a year before the first cut in September 2024. An investor who read “rates are high” as “stay out of stocks” missed that rise.
What to do: on a Koyfin chart, plot the stock with the US 2-year yield and the Fed funds rate, with the two rates on the same axis.
Nominal yields mix real rates with inflation expectations
The check: if you hold growth stocks, watch the real yield to separate interest rates from inflation expectations. If you hold a stock as an inflation hedge, judge it on its real return.
Why the nominal yield misses it: a nominal yield includes inflation expectations, so it can hide how much real rates moved. The real yield is the TIPS yield, after inflation.
For example, in 2022 the 10-year Treasury yield rose from about 1.5% to 3.9%, and the 10-year real yield from about -1.0% to 1.6%. That rise in real yields hurt companies whose profits are expected far in the future.
The same goes for returns: a stock up 10% over 2022 and 2023, while consumer prices rose about 10% (6.5% in 2022 and 3.4% in 2023), gave you no gain in purchasing power.
What to do: in Koyfin, add the 10-year real yield to the chart next to the 10-year nominal yield and the stock.
What the indicators show today
Here are the latest values as of November 3, 2026, with when each was published and when the next release is due:
| Series | Latest value | For period | Published | Next release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPI, year over year | 3.7% | September 2026 | October 14, 2026 | November 10, 2026 |
| Unemployment rate | 4.2% | September 2026 | October 2, 2026 | November 6, 2026 |
| Fed funds target range | 3.75% to 4.00% | – | October 28, 2026 | December 9, 2026 |
| 2-year Treasury yield | 4.59% | November 2, 2026 | – | – |
| 10-year nominal / real yield | 4.91% / 2.62% | November 2, 2026 | – | – |
Figures as of the date above, for research purposes only.
Build the chart yourself
Create a free Koyfin account and open the US macro dashboard to see the latest inflation, jobs and rate figures in one place. Then build the chart from this article: a stock with CPI inflation, the unemployment rate and the 2-year and 10-year yields. Save it as a template to apply to any stock.
If you’re a financial advisor, use the same template to show clients how rates and inflation line up with the holdings in their portfolio.
Common questions about charting stocks with economic data
Where can I get economic data for free?
Koyfin’s free plan charts FRED economic series next to stocks and company data. FRED, from the St. Louis Fed, has most US series free to chart and download, and ALFRED keeps each series as it was first published. The Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Bureau of Economic Analysis publish the original releases on a fixed calendar.
Which economic indicators matter most for stocks?
CPI inflation, the monthly jobs report, the Fed funds rate and Treasury yields move stock prices most, which is why this article charts them. GDP and business surveys such as the ISM manufacturing index matter too, but markets often see their direction coming in the jobs and inflation data first.
Does economic data lead or lag the stock market?
Stocks usually move before the economic data improves. The S&P 500 bottomed in March 2009 and March 2020, before unemployment peaked in October 2009 at 10.0% and in April 2020 at 14.8%, so investors who waited for better jobs data bought after the rebound.
Is inflation good or bad for stocks?
Low, steady inflation has usually come with rising stock prices because company revenue grows with prices. Fast-rising inflation pushes interest rates up and hurts stocks, as in 2022, when CPI inflation peaked at 9.1% and the S&P 500 fell about 19%.
How do interest rate cuts affect the stock market?
Lower rates reduce borrowing costs and make future profits worth more today, but stocks usually move when cuts become expected, which the 2-year yield shows first. Cuts made because a recession has started have come with falling stocks, as in 2001 and 2007-2008.
How do I see the S&P 500 adjusted for inflation?
Divide the S&P 500 by the CPI index, or compare its total return with the cumulative change in CPI over the same dates. Most price charts, including broker charts, show prices before inflation.
Charting economic data in Koyfin
Can I put an economic series and a stock’s fundamentals on the same chart?
Yes. On the Historical Graph (G), add the stock, use + Add Metric for revenue or estimates, then + Add Ticker for an economic series by its FRED ticker, such as UNRATE for unemployment. Each series gets its own y-axis, and fundamentals such as revenue appear in a panel below the price chart.
Where are the economic calendar and macro dashboards?
The Economic Calendar, under Calendars, lists upcoming releases by country with the actual, consensus and previous figures. The World Economics dashboard, under Market Overview ‚Üí Market Dashboards, shows inflation, policy rates, 10-year yields and jobless rates by country.
Why does an economic series end a month or two before the latest release?
Monthly series are dated at the start of the month they cover and published weeks later, so the latest point can look old. Daily FRED series in Koyfin are current to within about one business day. If a series is more than one release behind the FRED website, contact support.
Can I chart real yields, TIPS and inflation breakevens?
Add them by FRED ticker: DFII10 for the 10-year real yield and T10YIE for 10-year breakeven inflation. Other countries’ breakevens depend on what Koyfin’s data providers cover.
Can I get an alert when a new economic number comes out?
The agencies that publish the data send free alerts: you can subscribe to BLS news releases by email, and a free FRED account can email you when a series you follow is updated. Koyfin’s alerts cover prices, technicals, valuation and company documents. Economic releases have no alert, so check Koyfin’s economic calendar for release dates.
Editorial note
Our insights are derived solely from historical information and analyst predictions, employing an impartial approach. Please note that our articles do not serve as financial guidance.