The plunge in world oil prices has brought further difficulties to U.S. oil production, which has been declining in recent years. At the current low prices, most domestic oil wells are not profitable. This calls into question the long-run viability of oil production in the United States. Whether...

Labor markets in the Tenth District are tighter now than at any time in recent memory. The steady fall of unemployment rates in recent years has led many analysts to wonder if future economic growth in the region could be restricted by labor shortages. The district's labor market is actually...

The population of the Tenth Federal Reserve District has become increasingly diverse in recent decades. Since 1970, the share of ethnic and racial minorities in the district has nearly doubled, reaching 25 percent of the area's population in 2005. Minority job situations and earnings have long...

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...

The U.S. stock market and housing market--the two largest sources of U.S. household wealth--have had sizable booms and busts in recent years. This volatility has influenced national consumption trends and had important consequences for states. Some states have become relatively wealthier,...

In 2007, the United States spent over $650 billion on national defense. Even after adjusting for inflation, this was the largest annual amount since 1945, surpassing previous post-World War II peaks reached during the Korean, Vietnam, and Cold wars. Defense spending has risen steadily this...

The economy of the Tenth Federal Reserve District has become increasingly more services-based in recent years. While this transformation has lessened many of the historical differences with the rest of the nation, the regional economy still remains distinct, especially in some states. Wyoming,...

The U.S. economy officially fell into recession in December 2007, but the timing of the downturn varied widely across regions of the country. In some regions, employment began to erode much earlier in 2007, while in other regions economic activity stayed strong well into the second half of 2008....