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Discussion Paper
Have Some Rural Areas Turned the Tide on Population Decline?
According to the most recent county population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, almost half of the Fifth District counties in rural areas or small towns (those with a Rural-Urban Continuum Code (RUCC) of 3-9 and henceforth referred to as "rural") experienced population growth between 2020 and 2023. (See here for more on our use of these definitions for urban and rural.) That figure may seem low considering that nearly three-quarters of urban counties saw population growth over the same period. But what's notable about the growth in these rural counties is that more than half of them ...
Discussion Paper
Lagging Labor Force Participation in Maryland and Virginia
By July 2022, the U.S. had officially regained the jobs lost in the pandemic, the unemployment rate matched its pre-pandemic low, and the size of the labor force (the sum of employed and unemployed looking for work) was almost back to its pre-pandemic level. The same was true for many states in the Fifth District. Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia had recovered nearly all the jobs lost in February and March of 2020, while North and South Carolina had more than fully recovered. Unemployment rates were at or below pre-pandemic rates across much of the Fifth District as well.
Discussion Paper
Farming Creates Value and Employment for Rural Areas
From peanut farms in Virginia to cotton fields in South Carolina, open land lends itself to agricultural production. And, by definition, rural areas have more open land.1 The question is: Just how important is farming to rural areas?The importance of agriculture to the Fifth District's economy can be assessed through its total production value, the number of jobs it provides, and the income it generates for rural farmers. In many rural areas, farming accounts for a large share of production. Nationally, agriculture production accounts for about 1 percent of total gross domestic product (GDP). ...
Discussion Paper
April Update: The Coronavirus and Firms in the Fifth Dis
Over the past several weeks, social distancing and shutdowns have impacted our economy. Fifth District firms continued to tell us how COVID-19 has affected their business operations in recent surveys.
Discussion Paper
Firms' Employment and Wage Outlook Going Into 2025
Every November, the Richmond Fed asks businesses a series of questions about their expectations for hiring, wage adjustments, and other employment-related topics. This year, in addition to the usual set of questions, we asked firms if they have reduced the size of their workforce over the past three months and what workforce decisions they would make if business conditions deteriorated in the next six months.Consistent with past results, most responding businesses expect to maintain or increase employee headcount over the next 12 months. However, there were some shifts in responses compared ...
Discussion Paper
Virginia's Employment Recovery: Now And Then
In the United States, the pace of job growth has slowed over the last several months and compared to earlier in the post-pandemic recovery. Job growth in Virginia has slowed, too, but not as much. In fact, Virginia has outpaced the nation consistently since February, and this has not been the case for much of the last several years.Over the course of the post-pandemic jobs recovery, Virginia's month over month job gains were more often smaller than the national average. From January 2021 to December 2023, for example, the monthly percentage increase in Virginia either matched or was lower ...
Journal Article
State and Metropolitan Area Data, Q4:17
Discussion Paper
How Does USDA Funding Flow into the Fifth District?
Federal funding for economic and community development in rural communities is distributed across over 400 programs. But one agency is technically charged with directing rural policy: the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). In a fragmented federal funding landscape, USDA Rural Development (RD) is the largest source of federal funding for rural economic and community development. To understand how changes to USDA funding might flow through to national and Fifth District communities, it's important to understand where money has gone in the past. How much money are we talking about when we talk ...
Discussion Paper
What Businesses are Saying About the COVID Crisis
While the majority of businesses surveyed have suffered some negative effects and loss of revenue as result of the COVID-19 crisis, most firms remained open and operating, at least partially, when surveyed.While the majority of businesses surveyed have suffered some negative effects and loss of revenue as result of the COVID-19 crisis, most firms remained open and operating, at least partially, when surveyed.
Discussion Paper
Growing Younger: Are Rural Demographics Shifting?
As the Baby Boomer generation ages, America has been "graying." The Census Bureau estimates that within the next decade, there could be more adults over 65 than children under 18. Geographically, rural areas tend to be older than urban areas and median age rose across both rural and urban areas from 2010 to 2020. More recently, however, the story has changed; in the last three years, many rural counties have gotten younger. And about a third of them are getting younger while growing their prime working-age population, a key group needed for economic and employment growth that can help lead to ...