About DisplaceIndex

A composite economic indicator built to answer one question: how much pressure is AI putting on US employment right now?

Our Mission

The AI displacement debate is full of opinion and short on data. DisplaceIndex exists to cut through the noise - aggregating hard economic data and real-time market signals into a single, regularly updated index that anyone can read and cite.

We believe workers, researchers, journalists, and business leaders deserve a transparent, methodology-driven view of what AI is actually doing to the labor market - not just what commentators predict it will do.

How DisplaceIndex Works

Layer 1 · 70%

Hard Economic Data

We pull ten Federal Reserve (FRED) data series every 6 hours - covering unemployment, job openings (JOLTS), initial claims, continuing claims, quits rate, layoffs, average hours worked, and sector-level payrolls. Each series is scored against its historical baseline and weighted by relevance to AI displacement.

Layer 2 · 30%

AI Sentiment Signals

Simultaneously, our scoring engine analyses current news headlines, tech layoff announcements, and hiring trend signals. Each item is scored for displacement sentiment and aggregated into a real-time market layer.

Composite formula: Index Score = (Hard Data Score × 0.7) + (Sentiment Score × 0.3). Scores run from 0 (maximum displacement pressure) to 100 (resilient, growing market).
Read the full methodology →

Data Sources

FRED (Federal Reserve)

Economic time-series data - unemployment, JOLTS, claims, payrolls

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Sector employment and occupational outlook data

NewsAPI

Current headlines filtered for labor market and AI signals

Proprietary AI Scoring

LLM-based sentiment classification of displacement-relevant signals

Questions

Who runs DisplaceIndex?

DisplaceIndex is an independent project focused on data transparency around AI's impact on the labor market. We are not affiliated with any employer, union, or political organisation.

How often is the index updated?

The pipeline runs every 6 hours, pulling fresh FRED economic data and scoring current news headlines. The index score and signal feed reflect the most recent completed run.

Can I use this data in my research?

Yes. For academic and journalistic use, please cite us as: DisplaceIndex (displaceindex.com), accessed [date]. For bulk data access and API use, check our Pricing page for upcoming Pro and Research plans.

Is the historical data available?

Historical index readings are stored and will be available via API and CSV export in our upcoming Pro plan. The Trends page currently shows up to 365 days of history.