New York Fed to Release New Consumer Spending and Small Business Topics as Part of the Economic Heterogeneity Indicators

On Tuesday, February 3, 2026, at 10:00 AM, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York will add two new topic areas to the Economic Heterogeneity Indicators (EHIs)-focused on consumer spending and small business. They will be released as part of the latest EHI quarterly update and will be accompanied by two Liberty Street Economic blog posts on the respective topics.

The EHIs are economic indicators that measure macroeconomic outcomes experienced by different demographic, economic, and geographic groups-both nationally and in the New York Fed's region. They currently focus on four topic areas: inflation, earnings, employment, and wealth.

The upcoming consumer spending EHIs will cover spending on retail, gas, and food and beverages across indicators like income, education, race/ethnicity, age, and geography. The associated blog highlights how this data is uniquely situated to understand differences in spending trends across groups and assesses how retail spending has evolved by education level.

The upcoming small business EHIs will cover the performance of small businesses, including their profitability, revenues, employment, and indebtedness by firm size. The associated blog evaluates national and regional small business trends throughout the pre- to post-COVID period.

Press Call about the EHIs on Consumer Spending and Small Business:
The economists responsible for these indicators will be available for a deep background press call on Tuesday, February 3 at 9:00 AM EST to provide further context on the new EHI topics. Journalists interested in participating should RSVP to Betsy Bourassa at [email protected].