Briefing
Do Black Households Face Higher and More Volatile Inflation?
Lee, Munseob (2022-07)
Inflation affects different households in different ways. I use detailed data on spending in retail outlets by Black and White households in the U.S. and study the racial inflation disparity. I find that Black households experienced slightly higher and significantly more volatile inflation in consumer goods from 2004 to 2020 compared to White households. More than two-thirds of the difference in inflation volatility can be explained by the fact that Black households are disproportionately more likely to consume goods with volatile prices.
Richmond Fed Economic Brief , Volume 22 , Issue 25

Briefing
Understanding the Lack of Skill Specialization in Peru
Atencio De Leon, Andrea; Lee, Munseob; Macaluso, Claudia (2024-08)
Jobs in Peru use a larger number of skills than comparable jobs in the U.S. This lack of specialization is consistent with firms’ hiring of "toderos" (workers with many skills, do-it-alls), given the high levels of worker reallocation.Labor markets in poorer countries are characterized by higher worker reallocation rates.1 In richer economies, a dynamic labor market that seamlessly reallocates workers to jobs goes hand in hand with robust productivity growth and sustained income growth.2 Instead, in poorer countries, the brisk pace of reallocation is accompanied by high unemployment and ...
Richmond Fed Economic Brief , Volume 24 , Issue 29