`step_backward` – Step-function: each month inherits the most-recent published quarterly value.#

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Operational op under axis quarterly_to_monthly_rule, sub-layer l2_a, layer l2. Standalone callable: mf.functions.freq_align_quarterly_to_monthly_clean.

Function signature#

mf.functions.freq_align_quarterly_to_monthly_clean(
    panel: pd.DataFrame,
) -> pd.DataFrame

Parameters#

name	type	default	constraint	description
`panel`	`pd.DataFrame`	—	—	Input panel. Each column is a variable; rows are time periods. Series is promoted to a single-column DataFrame internally.

Returns#

pd.DataFrame — scalar result.

Behavior#

When a quarterly series needs to align with a monthly target, macroforecast holds the quarterly observation constant for all three months of the quarter (with a 1-quarter publication lag where appropriate). Conservative: no smoothing, no extrapolation.

When to use

Default for FRED-SD mixed-frequency studies.

In recipe context#

Set params.quarterly_to_monthly_rule = "step_backward" in the relevant layer to activate this op within a recipe:

# Layer L2 recipe fragment
params:
  quarterly_to_monthly_rule: step_backward

References#

macroforecast design Part 2, L2: ‘preprocessing is the only layer with a strict A→B→C→D→E execution order; every cell follows the same pipeline.’

step_backward – Step-function: each month inherits the most-recent published quarterly value.#