Regional Matters

Investment by community development financial institutions (CDFIs) varies by county and between urban and rural areas.

A special survey on hiring and wages, conducted in November, showed that a majority of Fifth District firms expect to hire or hold payrolls steady and plan to use wage increases to attract and retain workers over the next twelve months.

Young adults have been buying houses at lower rates. This gap between young and older adults is particularly high in Fifth District rural counties.

The Richmond Fed conducts monthly surveys of business conditions. The information collected are aggregated and combined into several individual diffusion indices. But what kind of information do diffusion indices reveal?

Why are hospitals in rural areas closing at a higher rate, and what are the consequences for these communities?

Mortgage debt is a smaller share of household debt, while student loan debt has become a larger share. Meanwhile, delinquencies for auto loans have increased.

How serious is the digital divide across the country and in the Fifth District? It depends on who you ask.

Although firms in the Fifth District received approximately $129 billion in contracts from the federal government in fiscal year 2018, some of those contracts span several years or were subcontracted out. How much did firms receive after adjusting for those factors? 

The labor force participation rate varies considerably across Fifth District jurisdictions, from West Virginia's 53.3 percent to the District of Columbia's 70.4 percent. What is driving the differences among jurisdictions? 

Recently revised payroll employment data for 2018 showed that fewer jobs were added in the Fifth District than originally reported. The largest downward revisions occurred with data for North Carolina, West Virginia, and Virginia.