Two government surveys are used to gather information about employment in the U.S. economy, but the employment levels calculated from each seem to provide conflicting pictures of the labor market. The surveys are very different, but when the differences are taken into account and the survey...

An investigation of whether it is possible to predict national recessions by following the employment performance of specific states or regions. The author compares state employment patterns to the health of the national economy over the post-WWII period.

A study that disputes recent reports claiming that undesirable and low-paying part-time jobs are overtaking full-time work, explaining how these reports overlook expansion in the labor force, confuse establishment and household data, and disregard differences in worker characteristics that can...

An appraisal of the health of the national economy based on the final state employment figures for 1995. The authors find that although employment growth has tapered off throughout the United States, there is no definitive evidence of a national recession in the near term.

An argument by Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Jerry Jordan that the proper focal point of public policy is not creating jobs but creating wealth, thus allowing for the highest standard of living.

An examination of the basic rationale behind policies intended to reduce the standard workweek, and an explanation of why these policies are likely to be less effective at boosting employment than proponents claim.

An analysis of slower-than-normal employment growth in the post-1991 economic recovery, examining trends at both the state and national level and finding a widespread weakness in the rate of job addition in growing industries, rather than an unusually high job deletion rate in contracting...

Minimum wages help some families to escape poverty, but employment losses associated with raising the minimum also appear to cause some families to fall into poverty. The authors' estimates suggest that on balance, the second of these effects outweighs the first; therefore, the net result of...

How can we measure total employment in the economy? The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides two different-and sometimes contradictory-measures of this key indicator. During the 1990s, the gap between the two measures has widened to more than five million workers. This Economic Commentary...

A deposit-pricing survey and comparison of 112 depository institutions in the Fourth Federal Reserve District, covering MMDAs, Super-NOWS, and CDs in an examination of the effect of interest-rate deregulation on banks and thrifts.