After a record-setting surge in home prices during the COVID-19 pandemic, the cooling of the real estate market seems to have fully set in. Mortgage rates doubled over the course of 2022 as the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates…
In recent years, policymakers and economic experts have embraced efforts to bring more manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. From the “America First” trade deals in the Trump Administration to historic investments in domestic manufacturing under the Biden Administration, industrial…
The last few years have brought rising demand for housing construction, home improvement projects, and durable goods. But amid supply chain challenges and an unusual labor market since the COVID-19 pandemic began, construction and related businesses have had a hard…
The residential real estate market in the U.S. experienced an unprecedented spike in home prices between 2020 and 2022, but signs from this spring and summer indicate that the market is cooling off. Existing home sales in the U.S. have…
Experts of all stripes agree that the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are critical to the U.S. economy. A recent study estimated that STEM supports 67% of jobs in the U.S. and 69% of the country’s GDP.…
The U.S. economy today has no lack of opportunities for architects. An ongoing shortage of housing stock contributed to the dramatic spike in housing prices over the last two years, illustrating a need for professionals who can help make design…
The residential real estate sales profession is dominated by women. According to the National Association of Realtors, women have been involved in the U.S. real estate industry since its earliest days. Starting in the late 1800s, women began to move…
The health of the manufacturing sector in the U.S. has been a major focus of public attention in recent years. With populist political figures like Donald Trump on the right and Bernie Sanders on the left offering critiques of U.S.…
All businesses and economies are built on infrastructure. Networks of roads, rail, bridges, ports, utilities, and more make it possible to provide goods and services across the country. Quality infrastructure helps lower the cost of supplies and transportation, which helps…
While much of the economy has fared better than expected during the COVID-19 pandemic, racial and ethnic minorities have faced enormous challenges over the past two years. Entering the pandemic, non-white households were more likely to be poor and to…
For much of the COVID-19 pandemic, favorable financial conditions for many middle and upper-income households have brought a rush of new homebuyers into the real estate market. In 2020 and 2021, increased savings rates and government stimulus allowed millions of…
Litter is a nationwide problem, but communities across the country have significantly different experiences with waste. According to the 2020 National Litter Study from Keep America Beautiful, there are nearly 50 billion pieces of litter in U.S. roadways and waterways,…
The average American spends about 90% of their time indoors and sits for a significant portion of the day. Researchers attribute a wide range of health problems to predominantly indoor (and often sedentary) lifestyles. For one, prolonged sitting is associated…
Nearly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the ongoing spread of the virus and an uneven economic recovery have hobbled some sectors while others continue to experience rapid growth. One of the industries in the latter group is construction. Recent…
High-density housing can provide a number of important benefits to communities and the residents who live there. All else being equal, research suggests that residents in high-density communities tend to be more physically active and healthy. Their costs for utilities…