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The Quarterly Catch-up, Q1 2025
Check out the latest community development-related research, analyses, and articles from all 12 Federal Reserve Banks and the Board of Governors. This post captures content published between January 1 and March 31, 2025, on topics affecting communities.
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Key insights from the 2024 Small Business Credit Survey
The 2024 Small Business Credit Survey revealed a decline in revenue growth, with more firms experiencing revenue decreases. Credit applications stayed steady, but fewer firms sought financing from large banks, turning to smaller banks and alternative lenders.
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Affording homeownership now is hard for many. These approaches may help.
In this explainer, learn more about some of the factors recently complicating affordable US homeownership and discover how some communities and organizations are helping to extend affordable homeownership to more families.
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Community perspectives and conditions from the Fed’s Beige Book, February 2025
Here’s what nonprofit and community leaders, and workforce professionals serving lower-income people shared with the Federal Reserve for the February 2025 Beige Book.
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Powerful tool helps job seekers chart a path to higher-paying roles
The Occupational Mobility Explorer uses data from millions of employment ads to show workers the skills they need to attain higher-paying jobs.
Explore data and research
From survey findings to dashboards, the Fed’s data can inform collaborative efforts between policymakers, employers, and educators.
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Read more →: Using Qualitative Research to Understand the Economy: A ToolkitUsing Qualitative Research to Understand the Economy: A Toolkit
The toolkit offers insights on using community-engaged qualitative research practices gleaned from the Federal Reserve’s Worker Voices Project and shows how others can use these methods in their own work. This toolkit is for researchers, policymakers, employers, and workforce organizations interested in partnering with the populations they serve and elevating community perspectives.
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Read more →: Community Perspectives Survey: Insights from the field—Health of entities serving low- and moderate-income communitiesCommunity Perspectives Survey: Insights from the field—Health of entities serving low- and moderate-income communities
The second report from the 2024 Community Perspectives Survey focuses on the health of organizations serving low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities and discusses the challenges they face. These organizations provide vital services to lower-income communities and infrastructure that promotes economic resilience and mobility.
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Read more →: Community Perspectives Survey: Insights from the field—Economic conditions in low- and moderate-income communitiesCommunity Perspectives Survey: Insights from the field—Economic conditions in low- and moderate-income communities
The 2024 Community Perspectives Survey, conducted nationally by the Federal Reserve, provides an overview of economic conditions in low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities. The first report examines key findings in the areas of housing, employment, financial stability, health, education, small business and access to technology.
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Read more →: Worker Voices Special Brief: Self-Employment, Dreams Versus RealityWorker Voices Special Brief: Self-Employment, Dreams Versus Reality
Worker Voices participants described weighing the tradeoffs of self-employment from the independence it gave to its income generation potential. This research found that participants were pushed or pulled into self-employment for a variety of factors and their experiences did not align with their expectations of this work.