This issue of the Rocky Mountain Economist discusses how the unemployment rate is calculated and explores recent trends in the Mountain States’ unemployment rates.

The recent recession and now the recovery have caused enrollment at many community colleges to soar as unemployed workers retrain for new occupations and students who might otherwise attend a four-year college choose to save money. In the Tenth District, the importance of community colleges is...

State and local officials have long sought to diversify the mix of industries in their regions, hoping to reduce short-term volatil­ity in their communities’ economic growth rates and poten­tially boost overall long-term growth. ; While theory does suggest that industrial diversity can...

Fiscal challenges at state and local governments are a potential threat to the economic recovery in rural America. Rural communities depend heavily on intergovernmental transfers from the states to provide local services. Many people in rural communities rely on the state or local government for...