Special Trackers

Hand-picked indicators that don't fit a single bucket — the I Bonds composite rate, the Misery Index, and our own State of America composite score for the U.S. economy.

Most economic trackers measure a single quantity — a rate, a price, a count. This group is different. Special trackers either combine multiple inputs into a composite signal, or measure something so specific it doesn't fit the other buckets. Together they're the "everything else" group — but the ones we picked here punch above their weight.

Two trackers stand out. The I Bonds Composite Rate — the rate on U.S. Treasury Series I Savings Bonds, which combines a fixed rate with inflation adjustment, making them the only no-risk inflation-protected investment most households can buy in size. And the Misery Index — the unemployment rate plus the inflation rate, a single-number gauge of household pain that economists have watched since the 1970s. Each tells a story other trackers can't.

This group also includes our flagship composite indicator: the State of America (EvvyTools National Index) — a single 0-to-100 grade for the U.S. economy, synthesized from every live tracker on EvvyTools and tuned to six reader personas. Watch this group for context that pure single-indicator trackers can't give you.

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Special 3

Hand-picked rates that don't fit a single bucket — I Bonds, Misery Index, more.

State of America (ENI) The EvvyTools National Index — every tracker on this site distilled into one 0–100 grade. LIVE — I Bond Composite Rate U.S. Treasury Series I Savings Bonds — fixed + inflation rate. LIVE 3.11% U.S. Misery Index The original economic mood ring — Inflation + Unemployment (Arthur Okun, 1970). LIVE 7.20 +0

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Who Watches These Trackers?

Inflation-Hedge Savers

Watch the I Bonds composite rate to know when Treasury's inflation-adjusted savings bonds are competitive vs. CDs and HYSAs.

Macro Pessimists

Track the Misery Index for the simplest possible answer to "are things actually bad right now?"

Curious Readers

See the State of America composite to get the whole economic picture as a single grade.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Misery Index is the sum of the unemployment rate and the inflation rate — a single number that economist Arthur Okun coined in the 1970s to capture household economic pain. When unemployment is at 4% and inflation is at 3%, the Misery Index is 7 — historically low. When both are at 8%, it's 16 — historically miserable. It's a simple, durable measure that politicians love to cite.

Series I U.S. Savings Bonds pay a composite rate = a fixed rate (set at purchase, locked for the bond's life) + an inflation rate (reset every six months to match CPI). They're sold by the Treasury directly via TreasuryDirect.gov, capped at $10,000 per person per year, must be held at least one year, and lose 3 months of interest if redeemed before five years. The composite rate makes them attractive when inflation is elevated.

It's a single 0-to-100 grade we compute by combining every live tracker on EvvyTools into a six-axis composite (cost of living, jobs & wages, housing, borrowing & saving, markets & wealth, macro & fiscal). Each axis is normalized, weighted by importance to one of six reader personas (Average American, Student, Buyer, Worker, Investor, Retiree), and rolled up into one grade. Updates whenever any underlying tracker updates.

Because they're composites or hybrids that aren't fairly described as belonging to one group. The Misery Index combines a labor metric and an inflation metric. The I Bonds rate is a Treasury product with a fixed and inflation component. The State of America index combines everything. Putting them under Special makes it clear they're different in kind from single-indicator trackers like "30-year mortgage rate."

Yes. The Special group is intentionally open-ended for composites and hand-picked metrics that don't fit existing buckets cleanly. Candidates being considered include the Sahm Rule (recession indicator), the yield curve slope (2s/10s spread), and the U.S. Dollar Index. Suggestions welcome via the contact page.