Hysen Labsfredr
An R client for the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) API
fredr: pulling FRED time series straight into R
fredr is an R client for the Federal Reserve Economic Data API. It fetches series observations and metadata from FRED, and the README keeps a short example to get you started.
A binding, not a wrapper
fredr provides a complete set of R bindings to the FRED RESTful API, which the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis runs. The functions let you search for time series and pull down observations along with the metadata attached to them, all from inside R.
The core call and its neighbors
The core function is fredr(), which fetches observations for a FRED series. Around it sit many other endpoints, such as fredr_series_search_text, which looks up a series by text. The README encourages checking the FRED API documentation to get the full range out of the package.
One example, thirty years of unemployment
The example in the README fetches the US unemployment rate series from 1990 to 2000. It is a short illustration of the basic flow: name a series, get its observations. That is the primary use case the package is built around, and the example keeps it easy to copy.
Sources the API will not serve
A short list of data sources do not permit redistribution through the FRED API, including ICE Libor rates, ICE swap rates, and the LBMA gold and silver daily prices. For those, the README recommends downloading directly from the FRED website. The project also releases under a contributor code of conduct, and contributing means agreeing to it.
Editorial conclusion
Most FRED data comes through fine, but a handful of sources do not allow redistribution through the API. The README lists them and points those users at direct downloads from the FRED website.
Community notes