Briefing
Why Use a Diffusion Index?
Pinto, Santiago; Waddell, Sonya Ravindranath (2022-06)
Diffusion indexes are a useful way to summarize economic information from surveys because they are easy to understand and correlate well with economic activity over time. To use diffusion indexes most effectively as a measure of change, however, it is important that the extensive margin of the indicator in question explains more of the change in that indicator than the intensive margin. This article, and the papers described in it, can also be used to develop a confidence interval around any diffusion index.
Richmond Fed Economic Brief , Volume 22 , Issue 22

Journal Article
Preliminary Findings from Focus Groups on Economic Inclusion in Smaller Cities
O'Dell, Mark; Longworth, Susan; George, Taz (2019)
A growing body of work by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and partners points to challenges that "legacy cities" face in extending economic opportunity to all residents. This article reports findings from a series of focus groups conducted around the 7th District to better understand what city leaders are doing to advance positive labor market outcomes for residents.
Profitwise , Issue 2 , Pages 1-10