Search Results
Showing results 1 to 10 of approximately 41.
(refine search)
Journal Article
District Digest: Measuring Social Capital Across the Fifth District
How cliquey is your community? How often do people from different income groups in your area befriend one another? Do your neighbors volunteer their time to charitable causes? Social scientists have long studied social capital — the strength and value of social networks within communities — as well as its effects on economic, health, and political outcomes. Political scientists have linked higher civic engagement with the strength of democratic institutions, while economists have studied the role that friendships across socioeconomic statuses might have in fostering economic mobility.
Discussion Paper
The State of Hiring in the Fifth District
The past two years have been marked by a historically tight labor market in which many firms have had difficulty hiring and retaining workers who possess the necessary skill sets. In a recent post, we explored evidence from our business surveys that suggests that the labor market may be cooling somewhat. Our employment and availability of skills indexes have returned to pre-pandemic levels, and our estimates of wage growth have come down from their 2022 peak. Nonetheless, wage growth estimates remain above pre-pandemic levels, and data from our August surveys suggests that many firms are ...
Discussion Paper
Are Signs of Labor Market Normalization Reflected in Wage Growth?
There have been two salient features of the U.S. economy in the past two years: a tight labor market and high inflation. In the Richmond Fed business surveys, the tight labor market has manifested in a high employment index combined with a low availability of skills index; high inflation has corresponded with extreme elevation in our survey's measures of growth in prices paid and prices received. Recently, all of these survey measures have either reached or made notable progress toward reaching more historically normal levels. It is hard to imagine, however, a rebalanced labor market or ...
Discussion Paper
Housing Affordability Challenges for Renters and Homeowners in the Rural Fifth District
As previously discussed in this blog, homeownership affordability has been on the decline in rural communities throughout the Fifth District. The combination of elevated home prices and rising mortgage rates have made homeownership harder to achieve. But affordability challenges aren't limited to prospective homebuyers. Many existing rural homeowners and renters — especially low-to-moderate income (LMI) households — are burdened by their housing costs.
Journal Article
Upfront: New from the Richmond Fed’s Regional Matters blog
Journal Article
District Digest: Transportation Access as a Barrier to Work
Lack of a car can be a barrier to employment, particularly for low-income individuals. According to a 2022 survey conducted by the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce, almost 20 percent of individuals in that state who were able to work but were not currently working cited transportation as a barrier. Many studies have shown that ownership of a car (or a truck or motorcycle) increases the probability of work, especially among welfare recipients. And low-income individuals are the least likely to own a car and therefore must rely on other means of transportation, such as ...
Discussion Paper
Fifth District Firms Report Cautious Optimism Going Into 2023
The COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath have required constant shifts in how businesses operate. Not surprisingly, uncertainty has been a theme among many firms in the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond's business outreach in the last few years. To better understand what firms are expecting for 2023, we asked them for their outlook and the strategies they might take to prepare for possible economic scenarios.
Discussion Paper
The Fifth District Labor Market: Normalization or the Beginning of a Slowdown?
The U.S. labor market continues to surprise economists and forecasters with its resilience. In 2023, employers have added more than 300,000 jobs per month on average, and that's after adding around 500,000 jobs per month on average throughout 2021 and 2022. The unemployment rate is persistently low, and the job postings rate remains extremely high. There are, however, some signs of slowing. In addition to job postings falling from its peak, the pace of job and wage growth has slowed.Reports from employers in the Fifth Federal Reserve District have been similarly strong, but with signs of ...
Discussion Paper
Fifth District State Business Cycles
To model national and state business cycles, this post first explores fluctuations of payroll employment around its long-run trend, comparing the correlation of the state-level employment fluctuations to the national series. Second, it explores how a popular rule of thumb recession indicator, the Sahm Recession Rule, performs when applied to state-level data compared to national data during the past four economic downturns. Third, this analysis not only provides us with insight into states' historical relationships with the U.S. business cycle, but it also reveals how they might fare in ...
Journal Article
District Digest
Many Americans take access to credit for granted. It's easy for them to underestimate the importance of credit. But without it, a person's economic advancement may become more challenging. For example, in many areas, the inability to secure an auto loan — and thus, a car — could limit employment options, access to healthy food, or medical care.Different people have disparate experiences in accessing credit. For those who are financially underserved, the market has produced credit alternatives. But many of those alternatives, such as payday lenders, offer unfavorable terms that often ...