Research Spotlight

  • Economic Letter Video: Productivity During and Since the Pandemic

    Economists John Fernald and Huiyu Li, in partnership with research associates Brigid Meisenbacher and Aren Yalcin, find that the surge in U.S. labor productivity growth during the pandemic and its subsequent decline as the economy recovered follows a recurring pattern in which U.S. productivity growth rises temporarily during recessions but eventually returns to its longer-run trend. These patterns suggest that productivity growth has a systematic relationship with the business cycle.

  • Economic Letter Video: How Much Has the Cooling Economy Reduced Inflation?

    Economists Regis Barnichon and Adam Shapiro find that recent inflation dynamics can be at least partially explained by patterns of excess demand in the economy. In this Economic Letter video, Adam discusses how specific measurements of labor market tightness are among the strongest gauges of excess demand for forecasting inflation.

  • Immigration Surge Has Slowed: Updated Estimates of Net International Migration

    Updated analysis using new and revised data suggests that the flow of immigrants entering the United States has slowed but remains above historical trends.

  • A Deep Dive into the Drivers of CPI Inflation: Introducing Our New Data Page

    Our new data page, CPI Inflation Contributions from Goods and Services, details the evolution of and contributions to inflation using the consumer price index. Read more in the SF Fed Blog.

  • Annual Conference on Macroeconomics and Monetary Policy: Call for Papers

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    The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco is organizing its annual Macroeconomics and Monetary Policy Conference to be held on Friday, February 21, 2025. Researchers can submit papers for consideration by November 1, 2024. Read our Call for Papers for more details.

  • Learn about SF Fed’s Research Associate program

    Being a research associate (RA) at the San Francisco Fed means getting a chance to work with economists doing exceptional research and policy work. We are currently accepting applications and are seeking motivated candidates interested in diving into economic research, honing their analytical and technical skills, and learning more about the Federal Reserve and the […]

  • Call for Papers: Annual Micro-Macro Labor Economics Conference

    The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco is organizing its annual Micro-Macro Labor Economics Conference to be held on Friday, December 6, 2024. Researchers can submit papers for consideration by August 9, 2024. Read our Call for Papers for more details.

  • Gauging the Stance of Monetary Policy on a Weekly Basis

    How can we learn more from financial market perspectives about the stance of monetary policy? Expanding the SF Fed’s Proxy Funds Rate data page to a weekly frequency provides detailed insights into how specific news and actions affect monetary policy tightness beyond what the federal funds rate level can show.

  • Advances in Macro-Finance Research Conference: Call for Papers

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    The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco will host a conference on advances in macro-finance research on Friday, October 11, 2024. Researchers can submit papers for consideration by June 30, 2024. Read our Call for Papers for more details.

  • Charting Their Course: Research Associates Head to Grad School

    As they finish two years of working with the SF Fed Economic Research Department, several research associates will continue their academic careers through graduate studies.