Federal Reserve executive sees positives in economy

Published 5:15 am Tuesday, October 17, 2017

After years of slow growth following the Great Recession, the economic outlook for the United States and Alabama is looking up. 

Lesley McClure, vice president and regional executive of the Birmingham Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, visited the Cullman Kiwanis Club Monday about the state of the economy, both nationally and in Alabama. 

The Federal Reserve System is the central bank of the United States, and is made up of 12 Federal Reserve Banks and a Board of Governors. The 12 Districts and the Board are meant to make decisions that help promote the health of the U.S. economy and the stability of the U.S. financial system.  

In order to perform that duty, some employees at the Federal Reserve Banks and their branches collect economic data to look for trends, while others perform grassroots data gathering. 

McClure said her primary job is meeting with businesses around Alabama and speaking with them about how they’re doing and their plans for the future. 

Those meetings include topics like if they are looking to hire or lay off employees or if they are considering more investment and expansion, she said. 

McClure said that the findings from her meetings are compared with other data, and they all add up to help provide a clear picture of the economy so the correct decisions can be made. 

Overall, the economy has seen steady growth over the last few years, with the unemployment rate back to where it was before the Great Recession and household spending continues to grow at a consistent level, she said. 

McClure said one factor that has been a little surprising is the labor participation rate, which adds up all of the people 16-years-old and older who are working. With a growing number of Baby Boomers reaching retirement age, that number began to trend downwards around 2008. 

With that happening, you would expect to see labor participation continue to drop, but the numbers have actually seen an uptick since 2015, which means more people are getting into the workforce  McClure said. 

“This is really good news,” she said.

Locally, trends look like they are matching the national numbers, McClure said. 

During her meetings with business owners in Alabama, she said she mainly hears the same thing: businesses here are seeing steady growth. Business owners aren’t seeing any huge gains in their growth, but they aren’t slowing down either, she said. 

“The economy is doing well,” McClure said.