Learning

Beige Book Reports: "Overall economic activity was little changed in recent weeks. Nine Districts reported either no change or only a slight change in activity this period while three indicated modest growth. Expectations for future growth were mostly unchanged as well; however, two Districts saw outlooks deteriorate. Consumer spending was generally seen as flat to down slightly amid continued reports of moderate price growth. Auto sales remained steady overall, with only a couple of Districts reporting improved sales and inventory levels. Travel and tourism picked up across much of the country this period. Manufacturing activity was widely reported as flat or down even as supply chains continued to improve... On balance, residential real estate sales and new construction activity softened modestly." more »

A bill to increase the age of eligibility for children to receive benefits under the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, and for other purposes; a grant program to address the crises in accessing affordable housing and child care through the co-location of housing and child care; A bill to require hygienic handling of breast milk and baby formula by security screening personnel of the Transportation Security Administration; A bill to direct the Attorney General, in coordination with the President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, to study the prevalence and instances of human trafficking at adult entertainment clubs in the US; A bill to provide grants to address maternal mental health conditions and substance use disorders, and for other purposes; A bill to increase vaccination rates of pregnant and postpartum individuals. more »

"These pay gaps are even larger when examining average hourly wages for all workers instead of just the average for middle-wage workers because of the disproportionate share of highly paid workers who are white men, which pulls up their average. Using the average measure, Black and Hispanic women are paid 61.4% and 57.8%, respectively, of white men’s wages, an hourly wage gap of $15.11 for Black women and $16.40 for Hispanic women. Even in a regression framework—controlling for age, education, and geographic division—Black and Hispanic women are both paid about 67% of white men’s wages." more »

"Gender gaps in labor market activity are pervasive, longstanding, and a regular subject of policy debates. Relative to men, women tend to work fewer hours per week, more conventional hours, and fewer years over the course of their lives. These differences in the intensity and timing of work contribute to gender disparities in promotions and pay. But despite decades of research on this topic, little attention has been paid to the timing of work throughout the year. To motivate our inquiry, Figure 1 plots the monthly labor force participation rates of prime-age US women and men using non–seasonally adjusted data, with June, July, and August shaded gray. Summer after summer, women's labor force participation drops sharply while men's participation does not." more »