Does an inappropriate industry mix and structure condemn rural areas to a competitive disadvantage with respect to urban areas? This study of employment changes from 1980-85 in North Carolina counties suggests not.

Continuing gains in labor productivity are essential to keep real wages and the U.S. standard of living from stagnating. After a period of strong gains in the 1960s, the average growth rate of productivity slowed substantially in the early 1970s. In the following years, productivity continued to...

A study indicating that service workers begin employment at a lower wage than comparable manufacturing workers, and then experience similar wage growth.

A modification of existing sticky-wage models to account for the observed cyclical behavior of real wages by means of a model that introduces productivity factors into nominal-wage contracts.

A study of whether changes in unionism affect the aggregate level of employment in the economy and, in particular, whether an individual who lives in an SMSA where unions are weak is more likely to be employed than an individual who lives in an area where unions are strong.

The Tenth District economy slowed down in 1998, with employment growing marginally below the national average. Despite very tight labor markets, employment growth remained healthy in many sectors. Construction; trade; transportation, communications, and public utilities; and finance, insurance, and...

Manufacturing is a major force in the Tenth District economy, accounting for the largest share of output in the region and one of the largest shares of employment. Moreover, many manufacturing jobs are among the highest paying jobs in the district. Yet little information is available to track...

This paper describes patterns of factor utilization and output adjustment at the plant level for a wide range of manufacturing industries. We explain why manufacturing plants may differ quite a bit in how they accomplish output adjustments, depending on shutdown cost aspects of technology....

A study of how excess capacity in the steel industry has persisted because of high exit barriers that have delayed the industry's contraction; includes a discussion of the effects of current trade protection and pension policies on the size of exit barriers.