By Michael McCracken, Economist; Aaron Amburgey, Research Associate

Once a month, policymakers, economists and investors tune in to learn the latest value of consumer price index (CPI) inflation—commonly referred to as headline inflation. There are some prices—such as the price of gas and common grocery items—for which changes attract similar, albeit less attention. Besides these select measures, it is very infrequent that you hear about the most recent change in the specific price of something like “footwear” or “public transportation.” In this blog post, we take a closer look at the prices of a variety of goods and services, with a focus on series with low volatility, or “sticky prices.”

By Nathan Jefferson, Associate Economist

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented economic disruptions to the global economy, but the effects on consumer income and spending haven’t been quite as straightforward as they may seem, especially in terms of tourism and travel.

Expanded unemployment insurance benefits and three rounds of stimulus payments equaling over $800 billion through May 2021 helped prop up household incomes. And with large portions of the U.S. economy shut down or operating under capacity, the personal savings rate reached record highs.

As economic activity has picked up and conditions have begun to improve, consumers have shown more willingness to spend. Some of this is visible in the personal saving rate, which was down to 9.4% in June—the lowest since the beginning of the pandemic, though still well above February 2020’s 8.3%. Surveys of consumer sentiment also show a marked uptick.

By Lindsay Jones, Economic Editor

When you see the name ALFRED, does the butler in “Batman” immediately spring to mind? Like the fictional character in the storied superhero franchise, the Federal Reserve’s ALFRED provides a service. But unlike Bruce Wayne’s longtime friend and mentor, this ALFRED is a database containing more than 815,000 data series.

ALFRED (for ArchivaL Federal Reserve Economic Data) launched in 2006 as a companion to its older sibling, FRED, the St. Louis Fed’s signature economic database, according to an April 2021 FRED Blog post. While 30-year-old FRED aggregates the latest data releases from sources such as the U.S. bureaus of Labor Statistics, Economic Analysis and Census, 15-year-old ALFRED captures vintage versions of these data as FRED replaces them with the latest numbers. Research Division analysts keep track of scheduled and unscheduled data releases, and ALFRED is typically updated within one business day, according to the...

If you’ve been paying rent just about anywhere in the United States, you likely already know that rent has been going up. And the FRED graph above shows exactly that. Average rent in U.S. cities has risen by 85% in just the past 20 years. That’s 30 percentage points above the 55% inflation that’s occurred between then and now (July 2021, at the time of this writing).

Rent growth in the Northeast and South has stayed close to the national average in recent years, while growth in the West has surpassed the national average. The exception is the Midwest, where the regional average has lagged a bit behind the national average. But average rent in all regions still outpaces inflation, with Midwest rent growth remaining the closest (only 7 percentage points above). Since the end of the COVID-19-induced recession, though, inflation has grown faster than rent, potentially a result of the COVID-19-related financial stimulus and rent relief in the form of eviction...

By Nathan Jefferson, Associate Economist

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented economic disruptions to the global economy, but the effects on consumer income and spending haven’t been quite as straightforward as they may seem, especially in terms of tourism and travel.

Expanded unemployment insurance benefits and three rounds of stimulus payments equaling over $800 billion through May 2021 helped prop up household incomes. And with large portions of the U.S. economy shut down or operating under capacity, the personal savings rate reached record highs.

As economic activity has picked up and conditions have begun to improve, consumers have shown more willingness to spend. Some of this is visible in the personal saving rate, which was down to 9.4% in June—the lowest since the beginning of the pandemic, though still well above February 2020’s 8.3%. Surveys of consumer sentiment also show a marked uptick.

If you’ve been paying rent just about anywhere in the United States, you likely already know that rent has been going up. And the FRED graph above shows exactly that. Average rent in U.S. cities has risen by 85% in just the past 20 years. That’s 30 percentage points above the 55% inflation that’s occurred between then and now (July 2021, at the time of this writing).

Rent growth in the Northeast and South has stayed close to the national average in recent years, while growth in the West has surpassed the national average. The exception is the Midwest, where the regional average has lagged a bit behind the national average. But average rent in all regions still outpaces inflation, with Midwest rent growth remaining the closest (only 7 percentage points above). Since the end of the COVID-19-induced recession, though, inflation has grown faster than rent, potentially a result of the COVID-19-related financial stimulus and rent relief in the form of eviction...

How did the other states fare? The second GeoFRED map shows Nevadans were not far behind Hawaii residents, as productivity in the Silver State grew 8%. But the blue coloring in the map shows states where productivity growth was negative during 2020. In descending order, an hour of work yielded fewer goods and services than during the previous year for Montanans, Oklahomans, Tennesseans, South Dakotans, and Idahoans.

The regional differences in labor productivity growth likely reflect idiosyncratic state economies. For example, goods manufacturing plays a much larger role in Oklahoma than in Hawaii. In that light, the uneven impact of the COVID-19-induced recession on the nationwide consumption and production of goods and services would have different impacts on state-level output, hours worked, and—ultimately—labor productivity.

How these maps were created: From GeoFRED, click on “Build new map” (green button, northeast corner of the screen) and then click on...

By Nathan Jefferson, Associate Economist

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented economic disruptions to the global economy, but the effects on consumer income and spending haven’t been quite as straightforward as they may seem, especially in terms of tourism and travel.

Expanded unemployment insurance benefits and three rounds of stimulus payments equaling over $800 billion through May 2021 helped prop up household incomes. And with large portions of the U.S. economy shut down or operating under capacity, the personal savings rate reached record highs.

As economic activity has picked up and conditions have begun to improve, consumers have shown more willingness to spend. Some of this is visible in the personal saving rate, which was down to 9.4% in June—the lowest since the beginning of the pandemic, though still well above February 2020’s 8.3%. Surveys of consumer sentiment also show a marked uptick.

If you’ve been paying rent just about anywhere in the United States, you likely already know that rent has been going up. And the FRED graph above shows exactly that. Average rent in U.S. cities has risen by 85% in just the past 20 years. That’s 30 percentage points above the 55% inflation that’s occurred between then and now (July 2021, at the time of this writing).

Rent growth in the Northeast and South has stayed close to the national average in recent years, while growth in the West has surpassed the national average. The exception is the Midwest, where the regional average has lagged a bit behind the national average. But average rent in all regions still outpaces inflation, with Midwest rent growth remaining the closest (only 7 percentage points above). Since the end of the COVID-19-induced recession, though, inflation has grown faster than rent, potentially a result of the COVID-19-related financial stimulus and rent relief in the form of eviction...

By Serdar Birinci, Economist; and Aaron Amburgey, Research Associate

The unemployment rate, labor force participation rate and initial unemployment claims are all commonly cited indicators that economists use to diagnose labor market conditions. These indicators become especially useful during and after economic downturns, when we want to know how workers have been affected.

However, there are other important labor market indicators that are often overlooked. One such indicator is the job switching rate, or the rate at which employed workers change jobs. The job switching rate can be thought of as a measure of job mobility—high job switching rates indicate high levels of job mobility.

While job mobility may perhaps be considered less critical than something like the unemployment rate, there is a significant connection between job switching rates and wage growth. Specifically, a high job switching rate is associated with high levels of future wage growth....

“Economics, certainly, is about the data and the numbers side of things. But it’s also about the stories and the people that are behind those numbers and how we tell those stories,” says Julie Bennett, research associate at the St. Louis Fed. She joins fellow research associates Praew Grittayaphong and Maggie Isaacson, as they discuss research and working in economics with Maria Hasenstab, media relations coordinator at the St. Louis Fed.

Introduction | The Tool | About the Data

The newly enhanced Community Investment Explorer (CIE) 2.0 enables users to analyze the equitable distribution of capital from 2012 to 2020 in regions throughout the U.S. Data are available from 10 community and economic development programs, including the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program and others. Capital flows are shown across four dimensions:

“Economics, certainly, is about the data and the numbers side of things. But it’s also about the stories and the people that are behind those numbers and how we tell those stories,” says Julie Bennett, research associate at the St. Louis Fed. She joins fellow research associates Praew Grittayaphong and Maggie Isaacson, as they discuss research and working in economics with Maria Hasenstab, media relations coordinator at the St. Louis Fed.

How did the other states fare? The second GeoFRED map shows Nevadans were not far behind Hawaii residents, as productivity in the Silver State grew 8%. But the blue coloring in the map shows states where productivity growth was negative during 2020. In descending order, an hour of work yielded fewer goods and services than during the previous year for Montanans, Oklahomans, Tennesseans, South Dakotans, and Idahoans.

The regional differences in labor productivity growth likely reflect idiosyncratic state economies. For example, goods manufacturing plays a much larger role in Oklahoma than in Hawaii. In that light, the uneven impact of the COVID-19-induced recession on the nationwide consumption and production of goods and services would have different impacts on state-level output, hours worked, and—ultimately—labor productivity.

How these maps were created: From GeoFRED, click on “Build new map” (green button, northeast corner of the screen) and then click on...

By Serdar Birinci, Economist; and Aaron Amburgey, Research Associate

The unemployment rate, labor force participation rate and initial unemployment claims are all commonly cited indicators that economists use to diagnose labor market conditions. These indicators become especially useful during and after economic downturns, when we want to know how workers have been affected.

However, there are other important labor market indicators that are often overlooked. One such indicator is the job switching rate, or the rate at which employed workers change jobs. The job switching rate can be thought of as a measure of job mobility—high job switching rates indicate high levels of job mobility.

While job mobility may perhaps be considered less critical than something like the unemployment rate, there is a significant connection between job switching rates and wage growth. Specifically, a high job switching rate is associated with high levels of future wage growth....

By Lindsay Jones, Economic Editor

When you see the name ALFRED, does the butler in “Batman” immediately spring to mind? Like the fictional character in the storied superhero franchise, the Federal Reserve’s ALFRED provides a service. But unlike Bruce Wayne’s longtime friend and mentor, this ALFRED is a database containing more than 815,000 data series.

ALFRED (for ArchivaL Federal Reserve Economic Data) launched in 2006 as a companion to its older sibling, FRED, the St. Louis Fed’s signature economic database, according to an April 2021 FRED Blog post. While 30-year-old FRED aggregates the latest data releases from sources such as the U.S. bureaus of Labor Statistics, Economic Analysis and Census, 15-year-old ALFRED captures vintage versions of these data as FRED replaces them with the latest numbers. Research Division analysts keep track of scheduled and unscheduled data releases, and ALFRED is typically updated within one business day, according to the...

The FRED Blog has previously looked at the negative impact of social distancing on employment levels in the leisure and hospitality industry. Today, one year later, we take a look at how the overall economic recovery is reflected in this industry.

The GeoFRED map above shows the percent change between May 2020 and May 2021 of employment levels in the leisure and hospitality industry for each state. The data are seasonally adjusted, meaning they correct for the recurring ups and downs in activity during any given year. For example, winter ice fishing in North Dakota or summer vacationing in Florida.

Overall, the number of employees in the leisure and hospitality industry increased from May 2020 to May 2021 by a stunning average of 42%. The smallest increase was 20% in Oklahoma, and the largest increase was 73% in Delaware.

The high-growth states, with increases in employment of over 60%, are in dark green. Eight of these ten states are concentrated in the...

“Economics, certainly, is about the data and the numbers side of things. But it’s also about the stories and the people that are behind those numbers and how we tell those stories,” says Julie Bennett, research associate at the St. Louis Fed. She joins fellow research associates Praew Grittayaphong and Maggie Isaacson, as they discuss research and working in economics with Maria Hasenstab, media relations coordinator at the St. Louis Fed.