Annual Report 2018 | Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Our People, Our Work

The mission of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis is to promote a healthy economy and financial stability. Corporate social responsibility is rooted in this mission, as the Bank’s 1,385 staff members—from the District’s head office in St. Louis to branches in Little Rock, Louisville and Memphis—work in the public’s interest every day.

How does the St. Louis Fed make a positive difference? Through its people and its work. The Bank was named a 2018 Top Workplace and President James Bullard St. Louis' Top Workplace Leader by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch based on an employee survey. The following figures from the past year offer a window into the St. Louis Fed.

All numbers are as of Dec. 31, 2018, unless otherwise noted.

Providing Thought Leadership through Scholarly Economic Research

Top 3%
research ranking for President James Bullard on RePEc in a number of categories, including the h-index.The h-index, or Hirsch index, is a compound measure of publications and citations used to highlight research productivity.
#8
in research productivity for the St. Louis Fed among all research departments at central banks worldwide.

#33 among all U.S. research institutions.
#42 among all research institutions worldwide.

2.7 million
economic research items from around the world available to search and download for free via IDEAS.IDEAS is the world’s largest bibliographic database dedicated to economics. This service, provided by RePEc (Research Papers in Economics at ideas.repec.org), is hosted by the St. Louis Fed’s Research division.
44 million
page views of the St. Louis Fed’s research site by people in 193 countries.
528,425
data series in FRED, the St. Louis Fed’s signature economic database.
120,405
page views for GeoFRED, a tool that allows users to create, customize and share geographical maps of data found in FRED.
571,681
items in FRASER, the St. Louis Fed’s historical digital library, with materials dating from 1791 to 2018.

Fostering Financial Stability

128
state member banks and 443 bank and savings and loan holding companies supervised by the St. Louis Fed.
1.134 billion
currency notes inspected.
- 980 million notes deemed fit for circulation.
- 154 million notes removed from circulation and shredded.
2,572
suspect counterfeit notes withdrawn from circulation.
$35.5 million
in improper payments identified by the St. Louis Fed in its role as fiscal agent to the U.S. Treasury Department and its Do Not Pay program, helping federal agencies eliminate payment error, waste, fraud and abuse.Total is for 2018 federal government fiscal year.
32,024
hours spent by internal auditors reviewing St. Louis Fed operations.

Empowering through Education and Outreach

4,158
attendees at Dialogue with the Fed and similar outreach events in St. Louis, Little Rock, Louisville and Memphis.
16,882
attendees at presentations requested through the St. Louis Fed’s public speakers bureau.
27,556
bankers, regulators and other industry participants in webinar and in-person information sessions held on timely financial and regulatory developments.
450,000+
students reached through educators who attended St. Louis Fed economic education programs.
1.3 million
student enrollments in the Bank’s Econ Lowdown online economic education curriculum.
2,761
students and their chaperones from 93 area schools welcomed at the St. Louis Fed’s Economy Museum.
18
student appointees to the St. Louis Fed’s student board of directors.
34
college and 8 high school students serving as interns for the Bank.
$1,003,250
in grants, loans and investments committed to community and economic development projects through the St. Louis Fed’s Investment Connection program.
8,895
people registered for 37 workshops, conferences, forums and other events led by the Community Development department to promote economic resilience and mobility for low- and moderate-income and underserved households and communities.

Sharing Timely Information about the Economy and the Fed

8,746
followers on Facebook.
10,924
followers on LinkedIn.
87,791
followers on Twitter.

Named one of TraderLife’s 10 Trading Twitter Accounts to Follow in 2018.
Listed on U.S. News & World Report’s 21 Pros to Follow on Twitter for Investment Advice.

499,283
page views for Regional Economist, providing insights on economic issues in today's headlines—in its 26th year of publication.
12,914
downloads of the Bank’s Timely Topics audio channel—including 7,413 downloads of the new "Women in Economics" series, which tells the stories of prominent female economists as a way to open the door for more young women to join the field.
354,482
page views for the FRED Blog, for a 49% growth rate in one year.
735,320
page views for On the Economy blog—featuring commentary and analysis from St. Louis Fed economists and other experts—for a 68% increase from 2017.
52
Open Vault blog posts focused on everyday economics for a general audience—in its first full year of publication.

Embracing Diversity and Inclusion

100
perfect score earned for a third straight year in the Human Rights Campaign’s Best Places to Work Corporate Equality Index, a national benchmarking tool for policies and practices pertinent to LGBTQ+ employees.
80
vendors benefited from the Bank’s Supplier Diversity Workshops aimed at fostering economic development in our communities.
90%
of inner-city, majority-minority and all-girls high schools across the Eighth District reached by the St. Louis Fed’s economic education resources.
23%
of the Bank’s workforce engaged as members of employee-led resource groups, which are focused on women, African-Americans, Asians, military veterans and the LGBTQ+ community.

Doing Good for the Sake of Good

138,157
pounds of waste recycled and 96,450 pounds of waste (including food) composted as a result of the Bank’s Zero Waste initiative.
$238,417
donated by employees to the United Way of Greater St. Louis campaign.
$34,442
raised by employees to help support food banks and feeding programs for the needy in the St. Louis area.
1,836
school items donated by employees to the Back-to-School Supply Drive to benefit area students.
32
employee volunteers for Teach Children to Save Day at local elementary schools.

Endnotes

The h-index, or Hirsch index, is a compound measure of publications and citations used to highlight research productivity.
IDEAS is the world’s largest bibliographic database dedicated to economics. This service, provided by RePEc (Research Papers in Economics at ideas.repec.org), is hosted by the St. Louis Fed’s Research division.
Total is for 2018 federal government fiscal year.