The Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington, D.C., is accepting applications from individuals for membership on the External LinkCommunity Advisory Council (CAC). Founded in 2015, the CAC is made up of a diverse group of experts and representatives of consumer and community development organizations. The national CAC is distinct from the Community Development Advisory Council that provides insight to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s community development team.

Community insights into emerging issues

The CAC advises the Board on issues affecting consumers and communities. This perspective complements two of the Board’s other advisory councils whose members represent depository institutions – the Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council and the Federal Advisory Council.

The CAC provides feedback and insight on policy matters and emerging issues of interest to the Board to assist in carrying out the Federal Reserve’s mission...

Pent-up demand among consumers may support a swift recovery in employment at restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues over coming months. However, persistent declines in business travel and ongoing work-from-home postures may delay the return to peak employment levels in the leisure and hospitality sector.

Social-distancing policies to combat the spread of COVID-19 led to an initial spike in work from home. We use high-frequency cell phone geolocation data to assess how work from home has evolved since then. We show that work from home declined as restrictions eased but remains above pre-pandemic levels. In addition, we find that differences across income, race, and education in work from home that emerged with the pandemic persist a year later.

Oil prices have fluctuated widely since the 1970s. Historically, consumers have tended to increase spending on non-oil goods and services when oil prices decline and cut back on such spending when oil prices rise. However, this relationship may have changed more recently. The U.S. oil sector has increased in importance in the last decade, and consequently the United States has become less reliant on oil imports. Moreover, gasoline expenditures have fallen as a share of households’ budgets. As a result, price swings may no longer have the same effect on U.S. consumption.

Nida Çak?r Melek and Robert J. Vigfusson look at two channels through which oil price changes affect consumption—the discretionary income channel and the oil producer channel—and provide evidence that the effect of oil price changes on consumption has become more muted. Their analysis suggests changes in oil prices are less likely to yield major changes in consumption, even among lower-income...

You’re invited to a free webinar on the Emergency Broadband Benefit, a $3.2 billion program designed to help cover the cost of internet subscriptions for low-income households and those affected financially by the pandemic.

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Although the U.S. payments industry has long anticipated contactless payments taking off, consumer adoption has been slow. In 2020, however, the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing demand for more hygienic, touch-free payment alternatives led to a significant increase in contactless payment adoption. Has contactless technology met the moment with an attribute consumers and merchants prefer over other available payment options? This Briefing looks at near-field communication (NFC) and quick response (QR) code contactless payment technologies and their prospects for greater adoption.

You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more

The energy industry has changed over the past few years and continues to evolve. Chad Wilkerson, Oklahoma City Branch Executive, Vice President and Economist, discussed the outlook for oil and gas, the opportunities and risks of energy transitions to renewables and how it all affects the regional economy.

Yvonne Whittaker was living her dream as 2020 began.

She moved back to Colorado in January. She found a great apartment and later got hired as a bartender and server at a new restaurant featuring craft beer brewing – an industry in which Whittaker, 33, plans a career.

“I thought ‘I have this job … I’m set,’ ” Whittaker said. “ ‘It’s going to be good, and I am not going to have to worry about finances.’ And then, all of this happened.”

Whittaker’s employer – Ska Street Brewstillery in Boulder – was opened to the public exactly one hour and 11 minutes on March 16 before being shuttered by a statewide COVID-19 lockdown.

Whittaker lived on unemployment until Ska Street reopened in early June. Even with a job, making ends meet proved to be a struggle. She had rent and utilities to pay, groceries to buy, and a credit card payment to make.

“Some weeks I would count my money at the end of the day and say, ‘Oh, I might actually be able to pay all...

April 13, 2021 12:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. ET | 11:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. CT Virtual video event presented by all 12 District Banks of the Federal Reserve System

Many businesses are likely to shift to hybrid officing following the pandemic, with employees working remotely several days per week. The reduced frequency of commutes and associated decrease in traffic may fuel residential construction in outlying suburbs, especially in the largest metropolitan areas. At the same time, suburban employers may move their offices closer to city centers due to reduced space needs, eased parking constraints, and less frequent commutes.

Audio File: mp3Ten Talk Episode 6

Rick Babson: Hi, and welcome to TEN Talk, a podcast by the Kansas City Fed. I’m Rick Babson, and I’m the managing editor in the Bank’s Public Affairs department, and I’ll be your host today for this episode. With me today is Lee Smith from the Bank’s Economic Research department. Lee is a research and policy advisor, also known as an economist. Lee, thanks for taking time to visit with us today.

Lee Smith: Thanks, Rick. I appreciate the invitation. I’m glad to have this chance to connect with listeners and share some of the research that’s being done here at the Kansas City Fed.

Babson: You’re welcome, Lee. During your tenure at the KC Fed, why don’t you tell us what some of the topics and areas of interest that you’ve been focused on?

Smith: I’ve been at the KC Fed for about seven years now. One of the things I enjoy most about my job is really the wide range of issues we analyze and cover as a research team....

You’re invited to a free webinar on the Emergency Broadband Benefit, a $3.2 billion program designed to help cover the cost of internet subscriptions for low-income households and those affected by the pandemic.

First quarter energy survey results revealed that Tenth District energy activity continued to increase moderately. Activity moved higher than year-ago levels for the first time since early 2019, and expectations also increased further. Firms reported that oil prices needed to be on average $53 per barrel for drilling to be profitable, and natural gas prices needed to be $2.94 per Btu.

Pent-up demand among consumers may support a swift recovery in employment at restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues over coming months. However, persistent declines in business travel and ongoing work-from-home postures may delay the return to peak employment levels in the leisure and hospitality sector.