Search Results
Demographic Trends Are Major Factors in Today’s Weak Labor Force Growth
The size of the US labor force declined by 2.3 million people between December 2019 and December 2021, sparking widespread debate about the underlying factors constraining labor supply. Broadly speaking, changes in the overall size of the labor force come from changes in labor force participation rates (LFPRs), changes in the demographic makeup of the population, and changes in the size of the population. Research has documented the role of changes in LFPRs, especially the jump in the number of retired people (Briggs, 2021; Faria e Castro, 2021; and Kaplan et al., 2021) and the drop in the ...
Monograph
Gone to Texas: immigration and the transformantion of the Texas economy
The United States welcomes more immigrants than any other country, and Texas welcomes more migrants?foreign and domestic?than any other state. Nearly half of all new arrivals to the state are foreign born. With a population of over 4 million immigrants, Texas is one of the top three states in terms of the number of foreign born living within its borders. Immigration to Texas has been both a cause and consequence of rapid regional growth. The strong economy and the Texas business model?low taxes, few regulations and a low cost of labor?have attracted many businesses and workers in recent ...
Journal Article
The Role of Immigration in U.S. Labor Market Tightness
Immigrants contribute a large portion of the growth in the U.S. population and labor force. However, immigration flows into the United States slowed significantly following immigration policy changes from 2017 to 2020 and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Analysis of state-level data shows that this migration slowdown tightened local labor markets modestly, raising the ratio of job vacancies to unemployed workers 5.5 percentage points between 2017 and 2021. More recent data show immigration has rebounded strongly, helping to close the shortfall in foreign-born labor and ease tight labor ...
Journal Article
Reinvesting in the Greater Chatham Neighborhoods in Chicago: New Data and Insights from Practitioners and Policymakers
In the not too distant past, Chicago was known as the center of black capitalism in America, and within the city, the Chatham neighborhood reflected the heart of black middle-class aspirations. In recent years, residents of Chatham and other south side neighborhoods have confronted a barrage of challenges to their once stable communities. In hopes of stanching this tide, Congressman Bobby Rush, whose district includes the Chatham neighborhood, and scores of civic leaders, helped launch the Greater Chatham Initiative (GCI) in June 2016,1 to mobilize resources for a comprehensive set of ...
Journal Article
Workforce 2020: Is It Time for Disruptive Innovation?
Whether framed as a gap, a shortage or a mismatch, skill problems drive discussions around workforce and education policy today. Employers say they are not getting qualified candidates from educational institutions; unions and workforce advocates say that if employers looked harder and offered increased wages and improved benefits, qualified workers could be found. At the same time, community colleges and vocational training centers say that rapid changes in technology make it cost-prohibitive to buy the latest machines and training tools. Aspiring workers say they are unaware of the ...
Journal Article
An Analysis of African American Interstate Migration to Iowa
There are many motivations for family moves to other states. New jobs, lower crime rates and better schools are a few. A common rumor in Iowa is that many low-income blacks are relocating to the state from communities in Illinois, Wisconsin and elsewhere to take advantage of the state's generous welfare benefits. This article attempts to explore that assumption by clarifying who is moving to Iowa and why. The conclusion, based on census data and a brief review of the literature, is that although perception belies reality, the reality is more nuanced than one might expect.
Journal Article
Participatory Budgeting: Enhancing Community Reinvestment through Public Engagement
Community engagement is not an easy task. This is especially true in communities with historically underrepresented and underserved populations who do not feel connected to the planning process. However, some municipalities across the country are finding success through the use of participatory budgeting.
Journal Article
Investing in Healthy Rural Communities – Lessons Learned and Future Directions
The Federal Reserve System and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) created the Healthy Communities Initiative to enrich the debate on how cross-sector and place-based approaches might revitalize neighborhoods and communities, while improving health and well-being for residents. A large body of research and evidence demonstrates inextricable linkages between economic success and physical and mental well-being. People who live in economically challenged areas endure more stress, are more likely to report their own physical and mental health as being just ?fair? or ?poor,? are more prone ...
Journal Article
Looking for Progress in America's Smaller Legacy Cities: A Report for Place-based Funders
Place-based funders2 can play an important role in connecting economic growth to economic opportunity. Looking for Progress in America's Smaller Legacy Cities describes a study tour undertaken by representatives from four Federal Reserve Banks and more than two dozen place-based funders, under the auspices of the Funders? Network-Federal Reserve Philanthropy Initiative. What began as an inquiry into four small legacy cities ? Chattanooga, TN; Cedar Rapids, IA; Rochester, NY; and Grand Rapids, MI ? that appeared to have experienced some measure of revitalization in the post Great Recession ...
Journal Article
Education and the Evolution of Earnings Across Population Groups Since 2000
By nearly all macroeconomic measures, the US economy is in good shape: unemployment is low, jobs growth is steady, inflation is stable, and GDP has expanded uninterrupted for 10 years?the longest expansion in US history. The good news from the aggregate data means that most people are in the best economic position they have been in for some time. But by definition, aggregate data cannot tell us whether an overall good economy is benefitting some population groups more than others. This article disaggregates the good news in the macrodata by tracking the fortunes of a variety of population ...