Economics

Several weeks ago, I attended the American Economic Association annual meeting in San Antonio. As economists, we always have our annual meeting over the first weekend of the year, because who else wants to go to a conference at that time? We get great deals on hotel rooms ($115 per night!). As well as presenting a paper on Name Image and Likeness, I attended several other sessions. One presentation I heard was from Daniel Wilson from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. He and a colleague analyzed the long-run

Students at Augusta University’s (AU) Health Sciences campus will soon spend more time in classrooms and less time searching for parking. A groundbreaking ceremony for an on-campus parking deck was held on Monday near Elm Hall, just off R.A. Dent Blvd. Yvonne Turner, Executive Vice President for Finance, said the university needs modern facilities to support students, faculty, and staff. “The construction of this parking deck is a significant step in meeting those needs and ensuring that our university remains a place where academic pursuits and campus life can thrive,”

The Augusta Leading Economic Index (LEI) increased by 0.8% on a monthly basis and 0.2% on a three-month moving average in November. Overall, the LEI is 0.1% higher than a year ago, the first annual increase since October 2022. Four out of the five components in the index improved in November from October. Residential Building permits increased by 9.6% and initial claims for unemployment insurance fell by 6.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had a strong end to the year, including an 8.4% gain in November. Inflation fell a little

In November, employment in the Augusta Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) fell by 400 to 244,800. Unemployment remained at 3.8% for the seventh consecutive month. 170 persons left the workforce and average weekly earnings decreased by $8 to $980. The average hours worked fell to 34.1. Overall, the Labor Market Index (LMI), which is a component index of the five labor market indicators described above fell 0.2 percent. The three-month moving average continued to be positive, and the index is above the level of a year ago. However, the rate of