Community banks, by virtue of their size and emphasis on so-called relationship banking, typically have limited geographic scope in their activities. This would seem to imply that their financial performance would be tied closely to the financial condition of their customers and, thus, to the...

This Economic Letter uses state-level data to contribute to the analyses of the drivers of gains in U.S. labor productivity since 2000--stopgap measures among cautious employers or more lasting changes. While the nation has had a so-called jobless recovery, many states posted net job gains early...