U.S. policymakers are concerned that negative home equity arising from the severe housing market decline may be constraining geographic mobility and consequently serving as a factor in the nation's persistently high unemployment rate. Indeed, the widespread drop in house prices since 2007 has...

Recent evidence suggests that a mismatch between the skills demanded by employers and the skills supplied by the population may be underway, particularly for “middle-skill” workers who possess some college education or an associate’s degree. This policy brief examines the middle-skill...

U.S. policymakers are concerned that negative home equity arising from the housing market crash may be constraining geographic mobility and consequently serving as a factor in the persistently high national unemployment rate. Indeed, the widespread drop in house prices since 2007 has increased...

The Great Recession and subsequent recovery have been particularly painful for low-skilled workers. From 2007 to 2012, the unemployment rate rose by 6.4 percentage points for noncollege workers while it rose by only 2.3 percentage points for the college educated. This differential impact was...

Important differences in labor market characteristics suggest that men and women physicians may be viewed as imperfect substitutes in the labor market. Concerns about efficiency and cost-cutting, which have led to the adoption of managed care practices, may have (unintentionally) favored female...

Over the past decade, policymakers and business leaders across New England have been concerned that the region’s slower population growth and loss of residents to other parts of the U.S. will lead to a shortage of skilled labor—particularly when the baby boom generation retires. Even with...

In the first calendar year following the Great Recession, signs of an economic recovery began to take shape across New England. An improving labor market picture, growth in income, indications of a stabilizing housing market, and booming exports spurred economic growth in the region in 2010. As...

This policy brief presents some basic facts about the retention of recent college graduates and changes in retention over time. It considers how New England compares with other divisions, what factors affect its ability to retain graduates, and the reasons why recent college graduates choose to...

Continued high unemployment and low labor force participation among U.S. youth have led many observers to question what the future path of employment will look like for younger workers. Of particular concern is the share of the youth population that is idle, or what is technically termed “not...

In a speech at UMass Boston, Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren illustrated how unusually weak this recovery has been, which emphasizes the need for continued accommodative monetary policy.