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Economic Data

Census, FRED, and labor stats

Access US government data: Census demographics at zip-code level, 800K+ FRED time series (rates, GDP, inflation), BLS employment data (unemployment, CPI, wages), and 400K+ Data.gov datasets. Answer questions like "median income in 90210" or "current federal funds rate" with authoritative data.

5 skillsv0.01
Census Lookup

Query US Census Bureau ACS 5-Year data. Get demographics, income, housing, education, and employment data for any state, county, zip code, metro area, or census tract.

Returns: Census data rows with geographic names and requested variable values
Parameters
variables *stringComma-separated ACS variable codes (e.g. B01001_001E for population, B19013_001E for median income)
geo_type *stringGeographic level to query
geo_codestringFIPS code for the geography, or "*" for all entities at that level. States: 2-digit (06=CA). Counties: 3-digit within state. Zip: 5-digit.
statestringState FIPS code (required for county, place, congressional_district, tract queries)
yearnumberACS data year (2009-2022 available)
Example
Median income in Beverly Hills 90210
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOOLROUTER_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
  "tool": "economic-data",
  "skill": "census_lookup",
  "input": {
    "variables": "B19013_001E",
    "geo_type": "zip",
    "geo_code": "90210"
  }
}' \
  https://api.toolrouter.com/v1/tools/call
Search FRED Series

Search 800,000+ FRED economic data series by keyword. Find series IDs for GDP, interest rates, inflation, housing, employment, and more.

Returns: List of matching FRED series with IDs, titles, units, frequency, and date ranges
Parameters
query *stringSearch keywords (e.g. "mortgage rate", "unemployment", "GDP", "housing starts")
limitnumberMax results (1-50)
Example
Find mortgage rate series
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOOLROUTER_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
  "tool": "economic-data",
  "skill": "fred_search",
  "input": {
    "query": "mortgage rate"
  }
}' \
  https://api.toolrouter.com/v1/tools/call
Get FRED Series Data

Get time series observations for a FRED economic data series. Returns date/value pairs for any of 800,000+ economic indicators.

Returns: Series metadata (title, units, frequency) and time series observations sorted newest first
Parameters
series_id *stringFRED series ID (case-sensitive). Common: GDP, UNRATE, CPIAUCSL, FEDFUNDS, DGS10, SP500, MORTGAGE30US, MSPUS
start_yearnumberStart year for observations (default: all available)
end_yearnumberEnd year for observations (default: latest)
limitnumberMax observations to return, newest first (1-200)
Example
Current federal funds rate
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOOLROUTER_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
  "tool": "economic-data",
  "skill": "fred_series",
  "input": {
    "series_id": "FEDFUNDS",
    "limit": 12
  }
}' \
  https://api.toolrouter.com/v1/tools/call
BLS Time Series

Get Bureau of Labor Statistics time series data — unemployment, CPI, wages, employment, and more. Supports multiple series in one call.

Returns: BLS time series data with year, period, value, and optional calculations
Parameters
series_ids *stringComma-separated BLS series IDs. Common: LNS14000000 (unemployment), CUUR0000SA0 (CPI), CES0000000001 (nonfarm employment)
start_yearnumberStart year (default: 3 years ago; max 20 with API key)
end_yearnumberEnd year (default: current year)
Example
US unemployment rate
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOOLROUTER_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
  "tool": "economic-data",
  "skill": "bls_series",
  "input": {
    "series_ids": "LNS14000000"
  }
}' \
  https://api.toolrouter.com/v1/tools/call
Search Government Datasets

Search 400,000+ US government datasets on Data.gov. Returns metadata, descriptions, and download links for federal, state, and local datasets.

Returns: Government dataset metadata with titles, descriptions, tags, organizations, and resource download links
Parameters
query *stringSearch keywords (e.g. "climate change", "crime statistics", "education")
limitnumberMax results (1-50)
organizationstringFilter by publishing organization slug (e.g. "census-gov", "noaa-gov", "nasa-gov", "epa-gov")
formatstringFilter by resource format (e.g. "CSV", "JSON", "API", "XML")
Example
Find climate datasets
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOOLROUTER_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
  "tool": "economic-data",
  "skill": "dataset_search",
  "input": {
    "query": "climate change"
  }
}' \
  https://api.toolrouter.com/v1/tools/call
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v0.012026-03-24
  • Initial release with Census ACS, FRED search/series, BLS series, and Data.gov dataset search

Quick Start

MCP (Claude Code)
claude mcp add --transport stdio \
  --env TOOLROUTER_API_KEY=YOUR_API_KEY \
  toolrouter -- npx -y toolrouter-mcp
REST API
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOOLROUTER_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"tool":"economic-data","skill":"census_lookup","input":{}}' \
  https://api.toolrouter.com/v1/tools/call

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I look up demographics for a zip code or city?

`census_lookup` returns ACS data for states, counties, zip codes, metros, and tracts, including population, income, housing, and education.

How do I find GDP, inflation, or interest-rate series?

Use `fred_search` to find the series ID, then `fred_series` to fetch the observations.

Can I get unemployment, CPI, or wage data?

Yes. `bls_series` handles BLS time series, including unemployment, CPI, employment, and wages.

Can I search for public datasets too?

`dataset_search` covers Data.gov and returns dataset metadata plus download links.