The FED Said Despite a generally robust economy, skills training is critical amid long-term and cyclical labor force challenges For years, Goodwill of North Georgia ran a successful program training unemployed and underemployed people in highway construction. That made sense: during the 1980s and ’90s, metropolitan Atlanta added about 1,000 lane-miles of freeways. When highway […] Read more
The FED Said The word cycle contains the notion of regularity. Yet one of the most important cycles of all, the business cycle, is anything but predictable. Plainly put, the business cycle is how economists refer to the inevitable ups—expansions— and downs—contractions, or recessions—of economic activity over time. But determining exactly when a cycle ends and […] Read more
The FED Said Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Summary of Economic Activity Sixth District business contacts indicated that economic activity softened slightly during the reporting period. Many firms noted persistent challenges with filling positions. Annual wage increases remained between 3-4 percent, on average, and businesses across the District continued to report increased nonlabor input costs. […] Read more
The FED Said The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s Beige Book survey of regional economic conditions reported that economic activity in the Southeast softened slightly in recent weeks. Published September 4, the report says business contacts reported slowing activity during late July and August in sectors including manufacturing, hospitality, and residential real estate. Although sales remained steady, […] Read more
The FED Said An unfavorable Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) rating from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta led to improved operations at BBVA (formerly BBVA Compass Bank). The year was 2013, and the Atlanta Fed was evaluating the Alabama-based bank’s performance with the CRA, a 1977 law intended to encourage banks to meet the credit needs […] Read more
The FED Said The Atlanta Fed’s Wage Growth Tracker has shown an uptick during the past several months. The 12-month average reached 3.7 percent in June, up from 3.2 percent last year. But in 2016, it depicted acceleration that eventually reversed course. So is this recent increase real or illusory? Although using a 12-month average quiets much […] Read more
The FED Said Ransomware attacks have only continued since I addressed the problem in a recent post, and they’ve continued to target municipal and state agencies. Riviera Beach (May) and Lake City (June), both in Florida, were successfully attacked. Lake City paid a bitcoin ransom of approximately $470,000 while Riviera Beach paid about $600,000, also in […] Read more
The FED Said Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Summary of Economic Activity On balance, reports from Sixth District business contacts indicated that economic activity continued to expand at a modest pace from mid-May through June. Although contacts shared concerns over uncertainty related to tariffs, the overall outlook among businesses remains positive as most expect continued […] Read more
The FED Said Spring brought a lift to home sales, according to the latest Federal Reserve Beige Book report of economic conditions. Economic activity expanded reasonably from mid-May to June, and most business contacts have a positive outlook for growth in the second half of the year. Tariffs continue to cause concern for some sectors. Residential […] Read more
The FED Said One day a single mother in Florida phoned Brittany Birken with a vexing dilemma. The woman’s employer was offering a dime-an-hour raise, a material boost at her low wage. But the woman, who had two children under five years old, was unsure whether to accept the pay hike because the additional income […] Read more
The FED Said Millennials are often described in terms of certain behaviors and attitudes. However, findings from recent Federal Reserve reports suggest that in some ways, this generation—which includes those born from the early 1980s to the mid-1990s—may not be that much different from previous generations, especially when it comes to spending. According to the […] Read more
The FED Said Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Summary of Economic Activity Sixth District business contacts reported that economic activity continued at a modest pace from April through mid-May. The outlook among contacts remains optimistic as most firms expect modest growth to continue over the next three to six months. District firms continued to report […] Read more
The FED Said Overall Economic Activity Economic activity expanded at a modest pace overall from April through mid-May, a slight improvement over the previous period. Almost all Districts reported some growth, and a few saw moderate gains in activity. Manufacturing reports were generally positive, but some Districts noted signs of slowing activity and a more […] Read more
The FED Said During April and early May, southeastern businesses continued to adjust to a tight labor market, according to the Federal Reserve Beige Book report of economic conditions issued on June 5. For about five years, Atlanta Fed contacts have remarked on the difficulty of finding qualified workers in certain occupations. More recently, some executives […] Read more
The FED Said Online lenders occupy a growing slice of the small business market, as an increasing share of firms turn to them to meet financing needs, an annual Federal Reserve report shows. Nationally, 32 percent of small business credit applicants approached online companies in 2018, according to the 2019 Small Business Credit Survey: Report on […] Read more