The hardships of recession aren't confined to the private sector. Dallas Fed regional economist Jason Saving takes a look at how state budgets are faring in the long, deep slump--starting with Texas.

States are in the midst of perhaps the most challenging fiscal environment of the postwar era. Spending and revenue patterns broke away from trend in the years leading up to the recession, leaving states relatively poorly positioned to overcome the slowdown. And while they have made adjustments...

The U.S. economy entered a financial-market-driven recession in December 2007 from which it has yet to fully recover. The boom of the mid-2000s has been replaced with a stubborn national reality of high unemployment and sluggish output growth, with no clear indication when economic activity will...