While the Fed has a dual mandate, there is no question they look at a plethora of data not just inflation and employment to determine what to do with interest rates. We are bombarded with so many regular reports but there is so much more going on behind the scenes that give insight into the shape of our economy that we aren’t necessarily privy to.  The good thing is the FED does not hide this information, in fact they publish it and make it available to everyone. Why it is not reported by the mainstream media is anyone’s guess but I thought the graphic below fills in some noteworthy voids.

While we may not have agreed with the FED’s decision to keep interest rates where they were, clearly these charts show areas of definite underlying economic weakness and concern in spite of positive unemployment and inflation data.

(As much as I would like, I cannot give proper recognition to the person who put this chart together as I was unable to find the author)