Research Department Working Papers
The Postpandemic U.S. Immigration Surge: New Facts and Inflationary Implications
This paper combines administrative data on border encounters and immigration court records with household survey data to document two new facts about these immigrants: They tend to be hand-to-mouth consumers and low-skilled workers that complement the existing workforce. The authors build these features into a model with capital, household heterogeneity and population growth to study the inflationary effects of this episode.
October 01, 2024
Running the economy hotter for longer could steepen Phillips curve
In the short run, running the economy hot—with output growth above potential—comes with the cost of additional inflation. But policymakers cannot exploit this relationship forever because inflation expectations won’t remain anchored, as the public comes to expect a higher level of inflation for any given level of output.
July 16, 2024
Surging population growth from immigration may have little effect on inflation
U.S. population growth increased sharply recently following a wave of immigration. This article examines what this surprise immigration surge could mean for the macroeconomy.
July 09, 2024
Unprecedented U.S. immigration surge boosts job growth, output
U.S. labor market conditions are among the main drivers of an unprecedented surge of immigration, the exact size and consequences of which are still being assessed.
July 02, 2024
Widening gap between rich and poor poses challenge to U.S.
Economist Jeffrey Fuhrer, a nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution and former Boston Fed director of research, discusses the nation’s income and wealth gaps and offers proposals to close them. Fuhrer’s recently published book, “The Myth that Made Us,” explores inequalities in the nation’s economic system.
December 13, 2023
State output remains distinctly Texan, while jobs mix increasingly resembles the U.S.
Lore and data have historically suggested that Texas is unlike any other place. Over the past 40 years, change has swept the state. Texas’ employment composition has increasingly come to resemble the entirety of the U.S., more so than even California or New York. But Texas economic output is another story.
November 17, 2023
Southwest Economy, Fourth Quarter 2022
Texas economy rides wave of changing technology and diffusion of know-how
Data on patents and employment show that Texas is a major center of innovation and high-tech employment.
December 22, 2022
Migration to Texas Fills Critical Gaps in Workforce, Human Capital
Continuing to retain working-age Texans and attract new ones from around the country and abroad is vital to maintaining the state’s workforce—its human capital—as baby boomers retire and birth rates decline.
November 29, 2022
Texas birth-rate decline complicates economic growth prospects
Lower birth rates are associated with less growth and a more rapidly aging population and, hence, slower economic expansion.
October 12, 2021
Spanish-Speaking Growth in Texas Reinforces Need to Close Education Gaps
The Eleventh Federal Reserve District has the second-largest native Spanish-language population in the Federal Reserve System. That population will grow further as the number of Hispanics exceeds 20 million in Texas alone by 2050.
August 03, 2021