Office of the Under Secretary for Economic Affairs

#ChildCare costs for American families remain high. New analysis from OUSEA using data from the Federal Reserve Board shows that many low-income families reduce work when they have children at the cost of their financial well-being. Even for families who can pay for care, childcare costs are often prohibitively expensive, costing half as much as housing per month. This analysis suggests the importance of government and private sector investment for childcare. This support is a priority for Secretary Gina Raimondo, who is hosting a childcare summit this week (more info on that summit available here: More info on the summit here: https://lnkd.in/esPgmZ9A). https://lnkd.in/eTdQKtgs

Check out the latest Regional Economic Research Initiative blog post! It discusses top-level findings from a new OUSEA working paper that constructed experimental, #county level regional price parity estimates (#RPPS). What are RPPs? They are a way to measure differences in #prices between places, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis publishes a wealth of RPP data for states and metropolitan areas. While the data discussed in this blog is experimental and not a statistical product, the ability to explore county level price differences may be useful for people making decisions about #policy, #planning, and #economicgrowth.   The working paper and experimental dataset are linked within the blog, feel free to explore the data yourself! #regionaleconomics #experimentaldata #economicresearch https://lnkd.in/ebGWVzR7

Improving Program Delivery with Innovative Data Practices at the U.S. Department of Commerce https://lnkd.in/eErJDt-x

We're hiring! Come join our growing team to provide leadership for the Regional Economic Research Initiative. https://lnkd.in/epKuHCYa

Wondering how the Department of Commerce is working to prepare Open Data for the age of AI? Read all about it here! #AI #AIready https://lnkd.in/eUrUHf53

Our Data team within the U.S. Department of Commerce is growing! We are hiring a Deputy Chief Data Officer (Deputy CDO) who will help lead DOC’s data governance and data strategy work. Applications close 12/14. https://lnkd.in/en37Zf4M

Last chance! Applications for Deputy Evaluation Officer close this Thursday, November 16th.

Our Evaluation team within the U.S. Department of Commerce is growing! We are hiring a Deputy Evaluation Officer who will help lead DOC's evaluation and evidence-building activities. Applications close 11/16. https://lnkd.in/euFnxCeg

"For the most part, high-income places 40 years ago remain high-income today, and low-income places 40 years ago are still relatively low-income. There are a few exceptions, and those metros that have climbed the ranks might offer lessons for economic development strategies and place-based investments." Our Regional Economic Research Initiative team is using data to improve the design and implementation of place-based policies. To learn more, take a look at our most recent blog post by Under Secretary Jed Kolko.

Employers are looking for workers, but more than three years since the onset of COVID, America’s labor market remains tight -- the number of job openings is greater than the number of unemployed. In fact, the total number of job openings in the economy, though trending down, is still at a relatively high 9.6 million.  This situation has remained similar for the last six months since OUSEA first published the our spotlight on women and the labor force. At the same time, if women participated in the labor force at the same rate as men, 10.5 million more women would be in the labor force today—greater than the number of job openings that exist. Similarly, this has been the case over these past 6 months. Read more about OUSEA's findings: