Question
Mnemonic 411 cross-references corresponding forecast and historical time series. Because forecast series do not show specific long-form definitions, you can jump to its counterpart to read further.
Answer
Introduction
Mnemonic 411 displays metadata fields for every time series in Data Buffet. For the third-party historical series that we republish, and for the Moody's Analytics estimated datasets, we also provide long-form written information about methodologies and definitions. This granular information is not included alongside forecast series, which share a single document about their model; instead, you can consult the entry for the specific corresponding driver.
What to do
Open the Mnemonic 411 entry for the forecast series.
On tab:Overview, look for row:Historical. The field is a hyperlink to the Mnemonic 411 entry for the corresponding historical series. Click to switch. Now that you're viewing the historical series, the label reads "Forecast" and the hyperlink points in the opposite direction. (You may see a long list of forecast scenario mnemonics.)
If the "Historical" field does not appear, please contact us. A select number of forecast series do not have linkages, because they lack a single obvious historical counterpart.
If all rows are blank, open the "Search" panel at the top of the window and adjust the geography.
Once you have a mnemonic, you can use jump to its catalog entry either through tab:Catalog or the "find in catalog" mode of the upper-right search box, and you can then browse its context.
Background
Given a forecast mnemonic, it's not in general possible to predict the corresponding historical mnemonic. (Although forecast mnemonics begin with "F·", estimated ones with "R·" or "XR·" and historical vary, it's not enough to just drop the prefix.) For example, the major employment series in the U.S. have mnemonics like the following, where the first letter is predictable, but only some of them carry the "·Q" frequency suffix.
Geo level | Historical | Estimate | Forecast |
Nation |
ET.IUSA |
RETQ.IUSA |
FET.IUSA |
State |
ET.PA |
RETQ.PA |
FET.PA |
Metro area |
ET.IUSA_MABI |
RETQ.IUSA_MABI |
FET.IUSA_MABI |
County |
(none) |
RETA.PA001 |
FETA.PA001 |
Because our forecast series have generally the same properties as their historical drivers, the more important information is about the forecast model. The model methodology is linked from Mnemonic 411 » tab:Documentation, or you can find it under Reference Files.
See also