Workers without college degrees make up the majority of our nation’s workforce. However, people tend to focus on the importance of getting a four-year degree.
For a better understanding of the economic opportunities available to workers without a bachelor’s degree, view the Atlanta Fed’s updated Opportunity Occupations Monitor, which shows estimates of “opportunity occupations” (well-paying jobs that don’t require a college degree) in states and metro areas.
This updated tool adds to findings published in a recent report by researchers at the Federal Reserve Banks of Cleveland and Philadelphia. Besides offering estimates of the number and share of well-paying jobs for non-college-educated workers, the tool provides historical trends on employer educational requirements for occupations in each state and metro area between 2012 and 2017.
It also presents a wealth of data on wages and projected employment growth. Find additional information at https://www.frbatlanta.org/cweo/data-tools/opportunity-occupations-monitor.
Opportunity occupations are the focus of a newly released documentary by the Federal Reserve. Travel, virtually, to the Toledo, Ohio area for the story of Jaime Pearson, a truck scales administrator, and learn about the region’s approach to creating a productive workforce development ecosystem. Watch at https://www.investinwork.org/opportunity-occupations.
Small businesses are vital to the American economy and account for 99.9% of all U.S. firms and nearly half of private-sector employment. They are remarkably diverse, and constitute 44% of the total private-sector output of the economy.
Business owners and entrepreneurs require access to a variety of credit sources. Yet less than half of small businesses report that their credit needs are met.
The Federal Reserve’s second issue of Consumer & Community Context features three articles with original analysis focusing on small businesses’ access to capital.
Read more at https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/consumer-community-context.htm.