During recessions, it is common for the federal government to extend the standard unemployment insurance (UI) program. Many economic studies have shown that workers who receive UI extensions tend to take longer to find new employment, leading to a somewhat longer average duration of unemployment...

This article explains how the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s Midwest Economy Index (MEI) can be used to produce quarterly estimates of the annual gross state product (GSP) growth of each state in the Seventh Federal Reserve District.