The Anthropic Economic Index measures how AI is actually being used in the economy — not how it could be used, but what people really do with Claude. Until now the data was interesting for researchers, journalists and policymakers, but honestly also a bit unwieldy. That’s exactly what Anthropic is changing: as of July 22, the Economic Index is available as a connector right inside Claude.
What it actually means
Instead of wrangling CSV files, you just ask Claude. A few examples Anthropic gives itself:
- “Which occupations use AI the most?”
- “What are the most common ways people in Colorado use Claude?”
- “What sorts of tasks do teachers use Claude for?”
- “What kinds of tasks are people automating — and how has that changed over the past year?”
The answers are grounded directly in the Index data. And the best part: you can ask Claude to show you the raw numbers behind any answer. No blind trust — just traceable figures.
Setup in a minute
There’s nothing to install. In claude.ai, open the connectors menu, find the Anthropic Economic Index in the directory, enable it — done. It works in any conversation, with any Claude model. Best to start broad (“what does the Index say about my industry?”) and then drill into the specifics.
One caveat Anthropic includes itself: the Index reflects patterns in Claude usage — not the labor market as a whole. Claude will point you back to those limitations as you explore. Good.
My take
I like this kind of feature because it’s so quietly useful. No giant new model, no benchmark battle — just: data that used to sit behind a barrier becomes accessible to anyone with a question. It fits neatly with this week’s bigger story, the $200 million fund for research into the AI economy. Open the data first, then fund the research — together that paints a complete picture.
For me it’s also a nice example of what connectors are really for: not a technical gimmick, but a bridge between a language model and real, verifiable sources. That’s where it gets interesting.
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