frequency#

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Axis frequency on sub-layer l1_a (layer l1).

Sub-layer#

l1_a

Axis metadata#

  • Default: 'derived'

  • Sweepable: False

  • Status: operational

Operational status summary#

  • Operational: 2 option(s)

  • Future: 0 option(s)

Options#

monthly – operational#

Monthly observation frequency.

Pinned monthly frequency. Sets the canonical sampling cadence to one calendar month per observation, so horizon h=1 means one-month-ahead and standard_md horizons h ∈ {1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24} are interpreted in months.

Compatible with dataset=fred_md and dataset=fred_md+fred_sd. When frequency is unset, the default 'derived' sentinel resolves to monthly for FRED-MD datasets via _derived_frequency() at L1 normalization – setting it explicitly is redundant for FRED-MD but required for custom panels that carry monthly observations.

When to use

Monthly macro forecasting (industrial production, payrolls, CPI, etc.); custom panels with monthly observations; explicit override of the FRED-MD default for documentation clarity.

References

  • McCracken & Ng (2016) ‘FRED-MD: A Monthly Database for Macroeconomic Research’, Journal of Business & Economic Statistics 34(4). (doi:10.1080/07350015.2015.1086655)

Related options: quarterly, dataset, horizon_set

Last reviewed 2026-05-16 by macroforecast author.

quarterly – operational#

Quarterly observation frequency.

Pinned quarterly frequency. Sets the canonical sampling cadence to one calendar quarter per observation, so horizon h=1 means one-quarter-ahead and standard_qd horizons h ∈ {1, 2, 4, 8} are interpreted in quarters.

Compatible with dataset=fred_qd and dataset=fred_qd+fred_sd. The 'derived' default resolves to quarterly when dataset=fred_qd via _derived_frequency(). Setting it explicitly is required for custom panels that carry quarterly observations.

When to use

Quarterly macro forecasting (GDP, productivity, NIPA-style targets); quarterly custom panels; FRED-QD-based studies.

References

  • McCracken & Ng (2020) ‘FRED-QD: A Quarterly Database for Macroeconomic Research’, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review.

Related options: monthly, dataset, horizon_set

Last reviewed 2026-05-16 by macroforecast author.