Econstats

Economic data MCP server with an economist's methodology guide. Connects FRED, BLS, BEA, IMF, World Bank, and ECB to any MCP-compatible client.

What makes it different

Not just data access — the server includes methodology rules that teach LLMs which series to pick:

• CPI vs PCE for inflation (and why they diverge)
• Prime-age EPOP vs headline unemployment for labor market tightness
• YoY % change for CPI/PPI indexes, monthly change for employment
• BLS direct on release day (FRED lags 30-60 minutes)
• Real wages: explains which of 4 measures it's using and why

Quick Start

# Install Bun if needed
curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash

# Run (get a free FRED API key at https://fred.stlouisfed.org/docs/api/api_key.html)
FRED_API_KEY=your-key bunx econstats-mcp

Setup

Claude Desktop

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "econstats": {
      "command": "bunx",
      "args": ["econstats-mcp"],
      "env": { "FRED_API_KEY": "your-key" }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

Add to ~/.claude/.mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "econstats": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "bunx",
      "args": ["econstats-mcp"],
      "env": { "FRED_API_KEY": "your-key" }
    }
  }
}

OpenBB

Connect as an MCP server in the OpenBB workspace AI settings.

API Keys

Key	Required	Get it
FRED_API_KEY	Yes	https://fred.stlouisfed.org/docs/api/api_key.html (free)
BLS_API_KEY	Optional	https://data.bls.gov/registrationEngine/ (free, higher rate limits)
BEA_API_KEY	Optional	https://apps.bea.gov/API/signup/ (free, for GDP detail)

IMF, World Bank, and ECB need no keys.

Caching

The server now uses a two-layer cache:

• L1: in-process memory cache for hot repeated queries in a single MCP process
• L2: optional shared Redis cache for cross-process or hosted deployments

If you are running a shared MCP endpoint for OpenBB users, set these optional env vars:

Key	Required	Purpose
UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_URL	Optional	Shared cache backend URL
UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_TOKEN	Optional	Shared cache backend token
CACHE_NAMESPACE	Optional	Cache prefix, defaults to econstats:v2
PREFETCH_HOT_SERIES	Optional	Set to true only for long-lived hosted processes

TTL policy is source-aware:

• Hot FRED series like PAYEMS, UNRATE, CPIAUCSL, CPILFESL, PCEPILFE: 15 minutes
• Standard FRED series: 6 hours
• BLS / BEA: 6-12 hours
• IMF / ECB: 24 hours
• World Bank and BLS lookup catalogs: days to weeks
• Release calendar: 15 minutes

The cache layer also deduplicates in-flight requests, so a burst of identical OpenBB tool calls only triggers one upstream API request.

Startup prefetch is disabled by default because short-lived stdio clients can create unnecessary upstream traffic. Turn it on only when you are running a persistent shared MCP service.

Tools (11)

Tool	Description
fred_search	Search FRED series by keyword
fred_get_series	Fetch FRED data with transformations (YoY%, change, etc.)
bls_get_series	Fetch BLS data with pre-computed YoY% and monthly changes
bls_series_lookup	Find BLS series IDs by keyword
bea_get_data	BEA national accounts (GDP components, state data)
imf_get_data	IMF International Financial Statistics (190 countries)
worldbank_get_data	World Bank development indicators (200+ countries)
worldbank_search	Search World Bank indicators
ecb_get_data	ECB data (euro area rates, HICP, money supply)
inflation_adjust	Convert dollar amounts between dates using CPI-U
check_release_calendar	Check if today is a data release day

Data Sources

All data comes from free, public government APIs. We attribute all data to its source agency (Federal Reserve, BLS, BEA, IMF, World Bank, ECB). No data is redistributed — each query fetches directly from the source.

License

MIT