The current recession: how bad is it?

In a recession, the severity of the decline is just as relevant as the duration of the recession.Recessions

Convergence in the United States: a tale of migration and urbanization

We use non-parametric distribution dynamics techniques to reassess the convergence of per capita personal income (PCPI) across U.S. states and across metropolitan and nonmetropolitan portions of states for the period 1969-2005. The long-run distribution of PCPI is bimodal for both states and metro/nonmetro portions. Further- more, the high income mode of the distribution across metro and nonmetro portions corresponds to the single mode of the long-run distribution across metro portions only. These results (polarization or club-convergence) are reversed when weighting by population. The long run distributions across people are consistent with convergence. Migration and urbanization are the forces behind convergence.Migration, Internal ; Income distribution

Vacancies and unemployment

Expansions are usually associated with plentiful vacancies and a low number of unemployed workers. During recessions the unemployment pool swells while employers seek to fill fewer job openings.Unemployment ; Recessions ; Labor market

Convergence across states and people

Income distribution

Economic misfortunes have caused many to reassess their finances, triggering sharp reversals in borrowing and spending habits

Households - Economic aspects ; Consumer behavior

New monetary policy tools?

Monetary policy