Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)

Overview

As part of the United States Department of Commerce, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) is a U.S. government agency that provides official macroeconomic and industry statistics, most notably reports about the gross domestic product of the United States and its jurisdictions.

We currently track the following BEA datasets:

• GDP by Industry - Measures the contribution of industries to GDP
• Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (PCE) - The Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation

Key Attributes

Geographic Coverage	United States
Entity Level	Country
Time Granularity	Monthly (PCE), Annual (GDP)
Release Frequency	Source Release Calendar
History	1959 onwards (PCE), 2017 onwards (GDP)

PCE Price Index

Overview

The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index is the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation for monetary policy decisions. The BEA publishes monthly PCE data covering 40+ categories of goods and services, with historical data dating back to January 1959.

Key highlights:

• Core PCE (excluding food and energy) is the primary gauge for Fed policy decisions
• 66+ years of historical data (1959-2025) for most series
• Dual-source approach combining NIPA Table 2.8.4 and monthly PCE releases for fastest updates
• 40+ detailed categories covering goods, services, housing, transportation, healthcare, and more

Why PCE Matters

The PCE Price Index, particularly Core PCE (excluding food and energy), is more important than CPI for understanding Federal Reserve decisions on interest rates.

Advantages of PCE over CPI:

• Accounts for substitution effects (consumers switching to cheaper alternatives)
• Covers broader range of expenditures
• Based on business surveys (more comprehensive than CPI's household surveys)
• Used in calculating real GDP
• Better reflects changes in consumer behavior

Data Coverage

Time Period: January 1959 to present (799+ monthly observations for most series)
Frequency: Monthly
Geographic Coverage: United States (geo_id = 'country/USA')
Seasonality: Seasonally adjusted
Unit: Index Level

Key Variables

Most Important Variables

1. Overall PCE Price Index

   • Variable: BEA_NIPA_PCE_2.8.4_DPCERG_M_SA
   • Coverage: 1959-01 to present (799+ observations)

2. Core PCE (Federal Reserve's Preferred Inflation Measure)

   • Variable: BEA_NIPA_PCE_2.8.4_DPCCRG_M_SA
   • Coverage: 1959-01 to present (799+ observations)
   • Note: This is the Fed's primary gauge for monetary policy decisions

Real-Time Release Data

For the most important PCE variables, we also include "Original release" versions sourced directly from BEA's monthly Excel files, providing the fastest access to newly published data:

• Core PCE (Original Release): BEA_NIPA_PCE_RELEASE_DPCCRG_M_SA
• Overall PCE (Original Release): BEA_NIPA_PCE_RELEASE_DPCERG_M_SA

These release versions use RELEASE instead of the table number (2.8.4) in the variable name and provide:

• Coverage: 2016-01 to present (114+ observations)
• Updated immediately when BEA publishes monthly releases
• 1-2 week head start before NIPA tables are fully updated
• Data available within 1-2 hours of BEA publication

Major Category Breakdowns

The PCE data includes detailed breakdowns across multiple categories:

• Goods & Services: Overall goods, services, durable goods, nondurable goods
• Food & Energy: Food and beverages, energy goods/services, gasoline
• Housing: Housing, housing and utilities
• Transportation: Motor vehicles and parts, transportation services
• Consumer Categories: Healthcare, financial services, food services, recreation, clothing, furnishings
• Special Measures: Market-based PCE, PCE excluding food/energy/housing

Sample Queries

Track Core PCE (Fed's Preferred Inflation Measure)

SELECT 
    date,
    value as core_pce_index
FROM marketplace_cybersyn.public_data_free.financial_economic_indicators_timeseries
WHERE variable = 'BEA_NIPA_PCE_2.8.4_DPCCRG_M_SA'
ORDER BY date DESC
LIMIT 12;  -- Last 12 months

Track Real-Time Core PCE from Original Release

Get the most recently published Core PCE data from BEA's Excel releases:

SELECT 
    date,
    value as core_pce_index
FROM marketplace_cybersyn.public_data_free.financial_economic_indicators_timeseries
WHERE variable = 'BEA_NIPA_PCE_RELEASE_DPCCRG_M_SA'
ORDER BY date DESC
LIMIT 12;  -- Last 12 months

Calculate Year-over-Year Inflation Rate

WITH pce_data AS (
    SELECT 
        date,
        value as pce_index
    FROM marketplace_cybersyn.public_data_free.financial_economic_indicators_timeseries
    WHERE variable = 'BEA_NIPA_PCE_2.8.4_DPCCRG_M_SA'
)
SELECT 
    curr.date,
    curr.pce_index,
    prior.pce_index as prior_year_index,
    ((curr.pce_index - prior.pce_index) / prior.pce_index * 100) as yoy_inflation_rate
FROM pce_data curr
JOIN pce_data prior 
    ON prior.date = DATEADD('year', -1, curr.date)
ORDER BY curr.date DESC
LIMIT 12;

Explore All PCE Categories

SELECT DISTINCT
    variable,
    variable_name,
    measure,
    COUNT(DISTINCT ts.date) as num_observations,
    MIN(ts.date) as earliest_date,
    MAX(ts.date) as latest_date
FROM marketplace_cybersyn.public_data_free.financial_economic_indicators_timeseries ts
JOIN marketplace_cybersyn.public_data_free.financial_economic_indicators_attributes attr
    ON ts.variable = attr.variable
WHERE attr.release_name = 'Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index'
GROUP BY 1, 2, 3
ORDER BY variable_name;

Compare Core PCE vs Overall PCE

SELECT 
    ts.date,
    attr.measure,
    ts.value
FROM marketplace_cybersyn.public_data_free.financial_economic_indicators_timeseries ts
JOIN marketplace_cybersyn.public_data_free.financial_economic_indicators_attributes attr
    ON ts.variable = attr.variable
WHERE attr.variable IN (
    'BEA_NIPA_PCE_2.8.4_DPCERG_M_SA',  -- Overall PCE
    'BEA_NIPA_PCE_2.8.4_DPCCRG_M_SA'   -- Core PCE
)
ORDER BY ts.date DESC, attr.measure
LIMIT 24;

Update Frequency

• NIPA API Data: Updated monthly, typically mid-month
• BEA Release Data: Updated immediately upon BEA publication (end of each month)
• Pipeline Check: Hourly sensor checks for new releases
• Data Availability: Within 1-2 hours of BEA publication

Data Sources

PCE data is available in the Financial & Economic Indicators tables:

• Timeseries: marketplace_cybersyn.public_data_free.financial_economic_indicators_timeseries
• Attributes: marketplace_cybersyn.public_data_free.financial_economic_indicators_attributes

The data combines two BEA sources for maximum timeliness:

• Primary Source: BEA NIPA Table 2.8.4 - "Price Indexes for Personal Consumption Expenditures by Major Type of Product, Monthly"
• Secondary Source: BEA Monthly PCE Release (scraped XLSX files for real-time updates)

GDP by Industry

The GDP by Industry data provides annual measures of the contribution of different industries to U.S. economic output.

Snowflake Products

Tables above are available in the following Snowflake data products:

• Finance & Economics
• Snowflake Data Foundations - PAID

Disclaimers

The data in this product is sourced from the Bureau of Economic Analysis

Snowflake is not endorsed by or affiliated with any of these providers. Contact https://snowforce.my.site.com/s/consumer-reporting for questions.