The Federal Reserve System - Data and Research for Community Development
About
The Federal Reserve System, its Board of Governors, and its regional Banks distributed across the country, conduct research and analysis on a palette of labor, employment and economic issues. The Federal Reserve makes decisions on monetary policy, financial system regulation and supervision, and payments, which must take into account the diversity of the American economy, including a range of businesses, consumers, and workers.
The Federal Reserve System's Data and Community Development Program
One of the datasets or tools developed by the Federal Reserve is the Small Business Credit Survey. And, household finance and industrial activity data, for example, are some of the data the Reserve collects for informing the nation on primary economic indicators. Other tools developed by the Reserve include the Wage Growth Tracker and Unemployment Claims Monitor.
Of special note is the downloadable Peer City Identification Tool, which helps determine the cities that are "experiencing similar trends or challenges along four key themes: racial and socioeconomic composition; economic change and labor market conditions; demographic and economic outlook; and housing affordability, tenure and housing-stock age."
The Beige Book and the FEDS Working Papers
Commonly known as the Beige Book, a Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions report is published eight times per year, and it gathers anecdotal information on current economic conditions in each Bank District through reports and interviews with key business contacts, economists, market experts, and other sources. The Beige Book summarizes this information by District and sector.
The Federal Reserve also produces the Finance and Economics Discussion Series (FEDS), an ongoing collection of working papers developed from research and analysis conducted to examine specific topics, such as racial inequities in labor market outcomes, the cyclical nature of unemployment and wages, or the elasticity of labor demand.
For other information, please refer to:
- “Identifying Opportunity Occupations in the Nation’s Largest Metropolitan Economies,” Federal Reserve Banks of Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Atlanta, September 2015
- Janet L. Yellen's “Addressing Workforce Development Challenges in Low-Income Communities” and Lael Brainard's “Why Opportunity and Inclusion Matter to America’s Economic Strength,”
- The 2016 results of the Board of Governors’ Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking
- Page 48510 of the Federal Register notice, “Community Reinvestment Act; Interagency Questions and Answers Regarding Community Reinvestment; Guidance,” Federal Register, vol. 81, no. 142, Monday, July 25, 2016, Rules and Regulations
- The Boston Federal Reserve’s Working Cities Challenge
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- Resource Publication Date: 2017
- Posted by: Damon Jones
- Posted in: LMI Central