News & Advisories

Top News

Business Conditions Index Updated

March 5, 2010 — The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's Real-Time Data Research Center has updated the business conditions index with information on payroll employment for February.

Business Conditions Index Updated

March 4, 2010 — The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's Real-Time Data Research Center has updated the business conditions index with information on initial jobless claims for the week ending 2/27/2010.

Beige Book Released

March 3, 2010 — The Federal Reserve Board of Governors released the Beige Book . The Beige Book is a summary of anecdotal information on current economic conditions in each of the 12 Federal Reserve Districts. See the Philadelphia summary.

Welcoming Remarks: Financial Interdependence in the World's Post-Crisis Capital Markets

March 3, 2010 — Philadelphia Fed President Charles I. Plosser outlines three key recommendations to improve our regulatory system: enacting a credible bankruptcy process to solve the too-big-to-fail problem, clarifying the Fed's umbrella supervision and financial stability roles, and enhancing market discipline to lower the probability of a future crisis. Read the speech.

Bank Announces Executive Changes

March 2, 2010 — Senior Vice President and Director of Research Loretta J. Mester will be promoted to executive vice president, assuming oversight of the Bank's Financial Statistics Department and the Payment Cards Center in addition to continuing in her role as director of research. Executive Vice President Richard W. Lang will retire in June 2010 after nearly 34 years with the Federal Reserve System, including 30 years at the Philadelphia Fed. Milissa M. Tadeo will take on a new role as senior vice president of Corporate Affairs, overseeing the Community Affairs and Public Affairs departments and guiding the Bank's outreach efforts. Arun Jain, senior vice president, will continue his oversight of the Retail Payments Department and will assume responsibility for Tadeo's current assignment, heading the Cash Services and Treasury Services departments. Herbert E. Taylor, vice president and corporate secretary, will continue to oversee the Office of the Secretary and will take on added responsibilities as chief of staff for the Office of the President. All changes will be effective April 1, 2010.

Fed Completes Changes to Check Processing Infrastructure

March 2, 2010 — The Federal Reserve Banks announced today that they have completed the reduction in paper check processing infrastructure that was started in late 2003. All paper check processing is now handled at the Cleveland office. The Atlanta office serves as the Reserve Banks' location for electronic check processing. Read the press release.

Fourth Quarter Banking Legislation & Policy Released

March 1, 2010 — The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia today released the Fourth Quarter 2009 Banking Legislation & Policy. This issue contains detailed descriptions of the proposed financial reform bills and housing assistance developments. It also summarizes other notable legislative, regulatory, and judicial developments that occurred during the fourth quarter of 2009.

Advisories

Schedule of Economic Releases

Get the schedule for the Bank's economic releases. It includes dates for the release of the Business Conditions Index, the most recent addition to our roster of economic indicators.

FYI

Kansas City: Financial Stress Index

The Kansas City Financial Stress Index was 0.26 in December 2009, down from 0.47 in November 2009. The decline followed two months of little change and continued the overall downward trend in the index since its peak in October 2008. For more information about the Kansas City Financial Stress Index, see the report and "Financial Stress: What Is It, How Can It Be Measured, and Why Does It Matter?" (681 KB, 46 pages)

Dallas Fed: Trimmed Mean PCE

The trimmed mean personal consumption expenditures (PCE) inflation rate for November 2009, released by the Dallas Federal Reserve, was an annualized 0.3 percent. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the overall PCE inflation rate for November was 3 percent, annualized, while the inflation rate for PCE excluding food and energy was 0.1 percent.

Chicago Fed National Activity Index

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index was -0.32 in November, up sharply from -1.02 in October.