Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

Learn how community development research and engagement initiatives at the Federal Reserve illuminate the housing affordability challenges and strategies at play in neighborhoods nationwide.

Farmland values in the Chicago Fed’s midwestern District were essentially unchanged in the second quarter of the year, according to the agricultural lenders surveyed for the latest quarterly edition of the Bank’s AgLetter. In this quarter’s Q&A, David Oppedahl, the publication’s lead author and a farm economy specialist with the Chicago Fed, answers more questions about what is happening in the ag sector. Q: What stood out to you in the new AgLetter?

On September 21, Chicago Fed President and CEO Austan Goolsbee will speak in London at an Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum event, In Conversation with Austan Goolsbee: Monetary Policy in an Uncertain World. Beginning at 5:30 am CT, the event, moderated by OMFIF Chairman David Marsh, will livestream on this webpage.

On September 21, Chicago Fed President and CEO Austan Goolsbee will speak in London at an Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum event, In Conversation with Austan Goolsbee: Monetary Policy in an Uncertain World. Beginning at 5:30 am CT, the event, moderated by OMFIF Chairman David Marsh, will livestream on this webpage.

Every month, typically on the first Friday, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) releases its Employment Situation Summary. In this monthly report, the very first number is the number of net jobs added or lost since the previous month. Commentators often label it as "strong" or "weak." But is a monthly gain of 10,000 jobs necessarily weak? Or is a monthly gain of 200,000 jobs necessarily strong?

On July 20, 2026, the U.S. President invoked section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 to issue three distinct presidential proclamations targeting Canadian exports in response to discriminatory trade barriers on U.S. alcoholic beverages, dairy products, and motor vehicles. These proclamations establish an additional 50% ad valorem duty that stacks directly on top of standard tariffs, antidumping/countervailing duties, and standard customs fees.

While higher education has been long and widely regarded as a crucial investment in human capital development that can lead to better job prospects and higher earnings, concerns about the cost of college and changing labor market dynamics have sparked debates about the value of a college degree. The perceived “crisis of college affordability,” as it has been called, is a significant concern for students and families across the nation.

As firms increase investments in AI infrastructure, automation, and digital workflows, questions have emerged about how these changes may affect employment across industries. While not all recent workforce reductions can be directly attributed to AI, many have occurred alongside announcements of expanded AI investment, restructuring, or automation initiatives.

Rethinking Automation Risk: AI Applicability and Occupational Outcomes, 2019–24 Rapid advances in artificial intelligence have renewed concerns that earlier automation forecasts may understate the range of occupations exposed to technological change. This paper provides an ex-post assessment of how U.S. occupational labor-market outcomes evolved during a period of rapid AI advancement.

Property insurance premiums have increased significantly over the last decade. Because insurance coverage is generally required for obtaining a mortgage, these large premium increases could have strong implications for the mortgage market. In their research, Chicago Fed Senior Economist and Economic Advisor Shanthi Ramnath and her coauthors analyze the relationship between property insurance premiums and prospective and current homeowners’ access to mortgage and refinancing loans.