Regional Matters

Since 2005, 155 hospitals in rural America have closed. Eighteen of those closures were in the Fifth Federal Reserve District. Why do we see hospitals in rural areas closing at a higher rate than at any time since the mid-1980s?

Mortgages make up the majority of debt across the United States and in the Fifth District. However, the share of mortgage debt has recently fallen while student loan debt has become a larger share. Meanwhile, delinquencies for auto loans have increased in the last couple of years.

Uneven access to or use of broadband results in a digital divide. But how serious is the digital divide across the country and in the Fifth District? It depends on who you ask.

Although firms in the Fifth District received approximately $129 billion in contracts from the federal government in fiscal year 2018, some of those contracts span several years or were subcontracted out. How much did firms receive after adjusting for those factors? 

The labor force participation rate varies considerably across Fifth District jurisdictions, from West Virginia's 53.3 percent to the District of Columbia's 70.4 percent. What is driving the differences among jurisdictions? 

Recently revised payroll employment data for 2018 showed that fewer jobs were added in the Fifth District than originally reported. The largest downward revisions occurred with data for North Carolina, West Virginia, and Virginia. 

As of December 2018, unemployment rates declined in every county and independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia from December 2017. But how do the most recent rates compare with previous lows?

According to a survey conducted in November 2018, many Fifth District businesses plan on increasing employment in the next year and are generally offering higher starting wages for at least some job types.

Although changes in educational attainment, employment status, and median earnings were inconsistent across Fifth District jurisdictions in 2017, most saw lower unemployment and higher median earnings.

By 2016, after the passage of the ACA and expansions to Medicaid, the share of the population with insurance increased in every state in the Fifth District. However, those improvements were not evenly distributed across states or counties and were more substantial in states where Medicaid was expanded.