US Economy 1999 to Present

A visual analysis of the current year in the context of every year since 1999

Author

Sam Caldwell

An interactive drill-down analysis of the US economy placed against every year since 1999. Use the sidebar to move between panels, or click the links at the bottom of this page.

Macro data comes from FRED (public-domain US government series, refreshed daily). Market data (S&P 500, Dow, NASDAQ, VIX, sector returns) is a calibrated synthetic overlay — FRED’s proprietary market licenses prohibit redistribution of the raw series. The current (partial) year is flagged with an asterisk. See Data & Citations for the full data dictionary and source attribution.

2026 Snapshot

Real GDP growth (YoY)

+1.6%

19ᵗʰ percentile vs 1999–2025

Unemployment rate

4.5%

33ᵗʰ percentile (lower = better)

CPI inflation (YoY)

2.6%

52ᵗʰ percentile

Fed Funds target

3.25%

Upper bound, period avg

10Y Treasury

4.00%

Period avg

S&P 500 (YTD)

+4.0%

30ᵗʰ percentile

Where does the current year sit in the historical range?

Each bar shows the range of every year since 1999 (excluding the current partial year) for a given indicator, with the current year marked.

S&P 500 over the full history

Recession periods are shaded. Use the scrollbar below the chart to zoom.

Where to go next

Economic Growth → — GDP growth, quarterly detail, and GDP components (consumption / investment / government / net exports).
Indicators → — Unemployment, inflation, rates, VIX — filterable table with inline sparklines; click a row for the full time series.
Economy vs Markets → — Do markets actually track economic growth? Correlation scatter, dual-axis view, and sector treemap.
Data & Citations → — Data dictionary, source attribution, and licensing.