Commentary

As a group devoted to advancing evidence-based economic policy, the AESG appreciates the powerful role that charts play in telling the story of our economy. Enjoy twelve figures that showcase our work in 2024! Figure 1: Manufacturing’s share of employment...

The past year has been one marked by several significant swings in the labor market. It featured strong (possibly, immigration-fueled) growth in the labor market at the start, a sharp rise in the unemployment rate that fueled speculation of an...

This week the AESG published our seventh annual policy volume, Strengthening America’s Economic Dynamism. This year’s volume features six papers covering topics including US trade and industrial policy, America’s fiscal and state capacity, the impact of advances in artificial intelligence...

Recent social and economic data has revealed a troubling trend: young men in the US are increasingly falling behind their female peers, a long-widening gap that has accelerated in the wake of COVID-19. Many young men have struggled to navigate...

The BLS estimated that the US economy added 142,000 jobs in August, and the unemployment rate ticked down slightly from 4.3% to 4.2%. This report is far from a worst-case-scenario many had feared, but does tell a consistent story of...

The steady cooldown in inflation that has marked much of 2024 continued in July. The Consumer Price Index rose at a 2.9% annual pace for all items, and at a 3.2% pace for all items excluding food and energy. These...

The United States has experienced a dramatic decline in birth rates, starting in 2007 and continuing through recent years. This post updates and expands on findings in Kearney, Levine, Pardue (2020), The Puzzle of Falling Birth Rates in the United...

The Consumer Price Index rose at a 3.0% annual pace in June 2024, and 3.2% for all items excluding food and energy. Three things stood out from this report. 1. Core CPI Hits Lowest Level in Three Years While markets...

The BLS estimated that the US economy added 206,000 jobs in June, with the unemployment rate ticking up from 4.0% to 4.1%. Three things stood out beneath the headlines of this report. 1. Revisions to April and May Show a...

The Consumer Price Index rose at a 3.3% annual pace in May 2024, and 3.4% for all items excluding food and energy. Three things stood out from this report. 1. Inflation Softens More Than Expected Overall, consumer prices were unchanged...