District Digest

Over the course of three weeks (from March 15 to April 4), more than 360,000 Virginians filed for unemployment. What does this mean for other employment measures and where might we see Virginia's unemployment rate go? 

As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads across the country, Americans are taking measures to distance themselves from their communities, both voluntarily and by mandate. What measures have Fifth District jurisdictions taken and what might this mean for the Fifth District economy?

On March 13, 2020, the President declared a national state of emergency and by March 16, every state and the District of Columbia had declared states of emergency, all due to the rapid escalation of positive cases of COVID-19. However, Fifth District firms were reporting impacts from the virus before the emergency declarations and the initiation of social distancing mandates in states and localities across the country.

In April, we surveyed firms about their adoption of technology and how it might translate into prices and employment in the next few years. Most firms reported adopting new technology, although many did not anticipate the technology to notably impact their pricing or employment decisions.

The Fifth District economy – like the U.S. economy – is increasingly driven by urban areas. How can we start to understand the existence, growth, and decline of cities in the context of Richmond, Va., Charlotte, N.C., and Baltimore, Md.?

States in the Fifth Federal Reserve District struggle with the opioid epidemic that continues to plague the nation. In fact, one state in the Fifth District—West Virginia—has some of the highest rates of drug use and opioid overdose deaths in the country.

The Richmond Fed publishes a series of diffusion indices based off of surveys of manufacturing and service sector firms across the Fifth District. These indices help us to understand business conditions in our region in a timely and more comprehensive way.

There are 12 Federal Reserve Banks across the country: How did one land in Richmond, Virginia?