How FearMetric works

We read public data each week and show what changed.

What you get

We follow six questions about whether your money and work are on steady ground.

Then we show what we find for the whole country, each state and D.C., and each metro area. A metro area is a city and the towns around it.

Weekly answers in plain words are coming. For now, the numbers come first.

How local the numbers are

Answers in plain words will cover only the whole U.S. When a place has no numbers of its own, we say so. Then we show the wider area's numbers and name it. That wider area may be your state or the whole country.

How we check the numbers

• Each number comes from the group that puts it out, such as a state or a U.S. agency.
• Before we publish, we match each number to a fresh read of our own data.
• If a check on this week's numbers fails, we say so and don't show them.
• Each number shows its date. Where a source's terms call for a credit line, "Explain this to me more" shows it.
• When a source changes a number it already put out, we say so.

What we never do

• We don't guess what will happen next.
• We don't blame anyone. We report what the data shows.
• FearMetric describes conditions. It never tells you to buy, sell, move or refinance.

When we get something wrong

We add a dated correction to the page it was on. It says what was wrong and what is right. We never quietly change a page.

See past weeks and corrections