Speaking of the Economy

At the Richmond Fed's sixth annual Investing in Rural America Conference, three communities in Virginia and North Carolina shared how they have used on-demand microtransit to address the lack of public transportation options that create barriers for residents without cars.

Andy Bauer and John Bailey Jones discuss the factors that have shaped the demand for and supply of labor in recent years. They also talk about the barriers to labor force participation in Maryland, including lack of affordable child care and housing. Bauer is vice president and regional executive for the Baltimore branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and Jones is vice president of microeconomic analysis.

Marina Azzimonti discusses the complexities of measuring the regional and sectoral impacts of tariffs and reviews the rapid series of changes to U.S. trade policy since the beginning of 2025. Azzimonti is a senior economist and research advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.

Davy Sell and Anthony Tringali discuss the housing needs of community college students and the challenges these institutions face in meeting the demand for affordable options. Sell is a research analyst and Tringali is a research associate at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.

At the Richmond Fed's sixth annual Investing in Rural America Conference, child care providers and experts shared the challenges of providing affordable, quality early care and education in rural communities, as well as solutions they have developed.

Grey Gordon and Felipe Schwartzman discuss the creation and evolution of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy framework and the Fed's current review of the framework. Gordon and Schwartzman are senior economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.

Joseph Mengedoth provides an overview of the economic contributions of agriculture in the rural parts of the Fifth District. Mengedoth is a regional economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.

Nicolas Morales, Horacio Sapriza, and Chen Yeh take listeners behind the scenes on how they work with detailed, confidential datasets about businesses and individuals. They also discuss how they gain insights on topics like immigration, credit markets, and labor productivity while safeguarding privacy rights. Morales is an economist, Sapriza is a senior economist and policy advisor, and Yeh is a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.

Stephanie Norris and Matthew Wells discuss their recent research on workforce development programs at community colleges that are aimed at helping the incarcerated re-enter the workforce after they are released. Norris is a senior research analyst and Wells is a senior economics writer, both at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.

Zach Edwards and Daniel Weitz discuss the concerns that chief financial officers across the country reported about their own companies and the national economy in the latest CFO Survey. Edwards is a research analyst on the Regional and Community Analysis team at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and Weitz is survey director at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.