Philanthropic giving can make a big difference in small towns, if both sides can find each other.

A fast-growing alternative to credit cards encourages consumers to spend and borrow more.

For millions, food banks fill a crucial gap. How do they do it and just how big is the need they address?

Many Americans have surprisingly little set aside for retirement. Why, and what can be done to help more Americans save and retire with financial security?

Borrowers didn't have to make payments for three and a half years. How will they — and the economy — weather a rapidly changing student loan landscape?

Some rural and small-town communities see potential for outdoor recreation to reinvigorate their economies.

Rental housing has become less affordable across the country, but rural markets face additional difficulties.

While price-setting is challenging even in normal times, shocks during the past few years, such as the pandemic and inflation, have made it harder.

Will the recently enacted CHIPS Act bring major growth to the region's semiconductor industry?

Leveraging some of its natural advantages, Virginia has encouraged the industry's growth through tax incentives and other initiatives. It is now home to hundreds of data centers, many in Northern Virginia's "Data Center Alley."

The persistence of hybrid work has left many wondering about the future of offices. With workers coming in less often, some companies have decided that they need less space. What does that mean for the banks that finance commercial real estate?

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically reduced transit ridership across the country. Operators across the Fifth District are still figuring out how to adapt.

The Treasury bond market suffered a liquidity crisis at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. What reforms are needed to make sure it doesn't happen again?

The maps included here are from a data-mapping exercise completed by analysts at the Richmond Fed to highlight the impact of flooding on communities within North Carolina through the lens of social vulnerability.

In the past few years, job changing in the United States — workers leaving their current employers for new ones — seems to have been on the rise. This development, often called the "Great Resignation," has attracted much attention, but the reasons behind it are far from clear.

Today's inflationary snarls reflect both supply shocks and policy stimulus.

States and communities are looking for remote workers as sources of economic growth. Is offering them cash and other perks a promising model of economic development?

Fewer veterans are using their education benefits. Is this trend a problem — or a sign of a more welcoming job market?

The dollar has been the global currency of choice for nearly a century, but in light of recent U.S.-led financial sanctions, some wonder whether that status will endure.

The pandemic has worsened a long-standing national shortage of nurses. Rural communities face the greatest challenges.

Entrepreneurship creates many local benefits, but starting a new business in rural places can be challenging

A surge of interest in starting new businesses could reverse a long-running drought.

Will four-year degrees become less of a gateway for high-paying jobs? Should they?

Governments across the globe recently reached agreement in principle on measures to counter the tax avoidance strategies of multinational corporations.

New technology is changing where and how some crops are grown.

COVID-19 transformed how we work and socialize, which could put the future of cities on a new path

Green infrastructure can help reduce polluting runoff during severe storms, but questions about costs give some localities pause

Changes in the meat supply chain have brought benefits, but are vulnerabilities a cause for concern?

Decisions about investment at the firm level are important to the path of economic growth

Digital connections have become more important in a time of social distancing, but rural broadband access still lags behind cities.

Loan forbearance and other debt relief measures have been part of the effort to help struggling households and businesses.

Some schools are offering to buy a share of students' future income in exchange for funding their education.

This gallery offers a record of some of the unprecedented economic changes that Americans experienced at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cultural heritage tourists' tastes and methods of communication may be shifting, but destinations are changing to meet them.

There is enough research to suggest that sentiment does play a role in shaping the business cycle. The question facing policymakers is what to do about it.

A new financing model for distressed communities offers both promise and pitfalls.

The technology behind cryptocurrencies shows promise for raising capital but has also drawn scrutiny from regulators.

The fracking boom might have led workers to forego educational opportunities.

What happens when countries can't or won't repay

In 2018, the unemployment rate was at historic lows. Were employers having trouble hiring because there weren't enough workers, or because they had the wrong skills?

Despite new technologies for electronic payments, cash has never been more popular. What's driving the demand?

What role do producers’ costs play in determining inflation?

When children enter a parent's profession, they probably aren't doing it blindly — they may have smart economic reasons. What's behind this footstep-following phenomenon?

Since 2011, BMW's South Carolina plant has been expanding its apprenticeship program to help grow a tech-savvy workforce.

Concerns about the effects of automation have brought an old policy proposal back into the limelight

Are fears of a "bubble" in auto lending overstated?

Is there still an economic case for government-supported broadcasting?

A tax exemption has helped credit unions since the 1930s, but some argue they should be treated more like banks

There are 1.8 million heavy truck and tractor-trailer drivers in the United States. Will self-driving trucks soon mean the end of many of those jobs?

The share of American women in the labor force is slipping even as it rises in the rest of the developed world

Life expectancy varies considerably across demographic groups.

Many worry that the Great Recession and mounting student debt have stunted millennials' financial development

States hope to attract businesses by cutting their taxes, but it’s not clear how well it works

The story of our biggest government program is not just about politics. It’s also about the influence of a diverse group of economists

Lessons learned from projects in Georgia and South Carolina might determine the course of U.S. nuclear development for decades to come

Virtually no new banks have opened since the Great Recession began. What's behind this drought, and should we be worried?

Washington, D.C., is notorious for congestion. Can smarter pricing provide a way out of clogged highways, packed parking, and overburdened mass transit?

Why trade growth has slowed down — and what it might mean for the global economy

A Territory in Crisis

When tech companies need to understand marketplaces, and tens of millions of dollars are at stake, some of them are turning to a new kind of researcher

Trading with Cuba

What's a Life Worth?

Building a Smarter Grid

The institution of marriage is solid -- but only for certain groups. Economics helps explain why

A long-standing U.S. farm support program now covers almost every almost crop -- but it attracts more and more critics as well

Bottoms Up Sidebar

Money Talks sidebar

Craft brewers raise the bar in the American beer industry

Legal changes have opened the door to new kinds of political spending. What does the money buy?

Some argue that there's no downside to a higher minimum wage, but others say the poor would be hit hardest

Why job accessibility is limited for some groups and what it means for anti-poverty policies

Why do kids drop out of high school, and what can be done to help them finish?

Longer unemployment benefits often mean longer unemployment spells, but economists say that's not always a bad thing

The most recent study published by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies estimates that Islam was the fastest-growing religion in the United States between 2000 and 2010. Yet there are relatively few financial products available here for those followers who require their financial contracts to comply with Islamic laws and moral codes, called Sharia law.

The widening income gap is a serious problem in the United States — or is it?

Preservation programs pay farmers to forgo development