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Discussion Paper
Results From the Survey of Community College Outcomes Extended Pilot
After three years of developing partnerships with community colleges across the Fifth District, we are proud to release our first-year results from our extended pilot of the Survey of Community College Outcomes.When the Richmond Fed launched this initiative, the most common question we heard from community colleges was, "Why does the Richmond Fed care about community colleges?" The answer is that the Richmond Fed cares about workforce development, and community colleges play a vital role across the Fifth District providing individuals with the skills needed to participate in the workforce.
Discussion Paper
Regional Businesses Returning to Pre-COVID-19 Operations
Discussion Paper
Are Customers Pulling Back on Spending? Evidence From the Richmond Fed Business Surveys
In the last few years, consumer spending in the United States has been remarkably resilient. In our August business survey, we sought to understand if Fifth District firms have recently experienced softening demand for their goods or services. A majority of firms reported that over the past three months, customers decreased the amount of goods and services purchased — both in quantity and in dollar amount. The survey also found that demand has softened more for manufacturers and retailers than firms in other industries. Additionally, firms reported that lower-income customers pulled back on ...
Discussion Paper
Are Labor Shortages in Small Cities and Rural Areas Worse Than Urban Ones?
In the past, the Richmond Fed has reported about the difficulty of businesses finding workers with the right skills. In conversations with business leaders across the Fifth District, we have heard about labor availability challenges across all geographies: in large urban centers, small cities, and rural areas. This post examines how labor availability differs between small cities and rural areas versus large urban centers. We find that the COVID-19 pandemic made it harder for firms in small cities and rural areas to find workers compared to firms in urban areas. Perhaps because of the ...
Discussion Paper
The Impact of Hurricane Helene on Fifth District Businesses
Hurricane Helene caused significant disruptions across the Fifth District, especially in western North Carolina, upstate and western South Carolina, and Southwest Virginia. More than 200 people died from the storm, utilities and drinking water became unavailable, and people were displaced from their homes. In the storm's aftermath, the Richmond Fed has been actively monitoring and reporting about its impacts, including on the devastation of Hurricane Helene and what we have been learning as business conditions evolve. In our November business surveys, fielded between Oct. 24 and Nov. 20 ...
Discussion Paper
Firm Price-Setting Behavior Amid Elevated Price Growth: Evidence From Our Surveys
very month, the Richmond Fed surveys firms across the Fifth District to understand how economic and business conditions are changing. As a part of this survey, we ask firms to report the 12-month percentage change in the prices they receive from customers for their goods or services. Additionally, we ask firms to provide their expectations for how prices will change over the next 12 months.As inflation has picked up in the U.S. economy, we have paid particular attention to the price measures from our surveys. Not surprisingly, firms in our district have experienced higher price growth since ...
Discussion Paper
Fifth District Firms Are Cautiously Optimistic About 2024 Despite Concerns
At the start of both 2023 and 2024, we asked our business survey panelists about their expectations for the upcoming year. In our recent December survey, we found that most manufacturing firms were pessimistic about the U.S. economy going into 2024 but were more bullish about their own-firm prospects. Additionally, manufacturers were more likely than services firms to expect lower revenue, employment, spending, and price growth in 2024 than they experienced before COVID-19.
Discussion Paper
The Impact of the Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse on Fifth District Firms
The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 26 killed six people, severed a major interstate highway, and temporarily closed the Port of Baltimore. This Macro Minute blog post last month discussed potential regional economic effects as well as several reasons to be hopeful for the port's long-term recovery upon reopening.Between March 28 and April 17 in our April manufacturing and service sector surveys, to assess its immediate economic impact, we asked Fifth District firms to report if and how the bridge collapse will impact their businesses. Overall, 30 ...
Discussion Paper
Are Fifth District Firms Revisiting Their Prices Less Often Amid Cooling Inflation?
The Richmond Fed's monthly business surveys of Fifth District firms gauge regional firm dynamics in pricing. We carefully monitor changes in firms' realized prices as well as their pricing expectations, especially since inflation began to accelerate in 2021 and 2022. Early last year, we examined how firms began to adjust their prices more frequently as firms' price forecasts became less accurate and uncertainty rose, as evidenced by a rising standard deviation of price growth expectations.
Discussion Paper
A New Endeavor: Introducing the Fifth District Survey of Community College Outcomes
Community colleges play a major role in workforce and economic development in communities across the Fifth District. Their responsibility for educating and connecting individuals to jobs means that understanding their outcomes is important to how we think about our best path to maximum employment and sustainable economic growth.