Western manufacturing employment: trends and peaks over 30 years

U.S. manufacturing employment has been declining for 40 years, but this trend has not affected all regions equally. This paper examines employment changes in the Western region since 1990 to identify trends in the basket of subindustries unique to the region.

Exploring Midwest manufacturing employment from 1990 to 2019

Using data from the Current Employment Statistics program, this article explores manufacturing employment dynamics between 1990 and 2019 in the Midwest region of the United States. The article compares and contrasts employment trends for both the region as a whole and the individual states that comprise it. Additionally, the article presents an examination of selected detailed industries. For context, the article uses periods within historical business cycles to frame analysis of manufacturing employment trends.

Applying for and receiving unemployment insurance benefits during the coronavirus pandemic

During the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in the United States, claims for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits rose sharply because of the substantial job loss and the expansion of UI programs. To improve upon UI administrative data, in this article, we use the Household Pulse Survey to estimate the number of people who applied for UI benefits, the number of people who received benefits, and the success rate of UI applicants (the share of applicants who received benefits) during the first 9 months of the pandemic. We examine differences by demographic group, educational attainment, and prepandemic household income. In addition, we relate state-level estimates to UI recipiency before the pandemic, job loss during the pandemic, and the differential spread of the coronavirus across states. Compared with individuals who applied for UI benefits but did not receive them, we find that individuals who received benefits had greater well-being in a variety of domains, including household finances, food security, and mental health.