Explore how shifting workforce trends are impacting small businesses and economic development in 2026—and what it means for your region.
Chmura Blog
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Economic Development
5
min readThe Workforce Behind Small Business: 2026 Economic Development Insights
Economic Development
5
min readSmall business hiring is shifting
Small business hiring pressures have eased since 2023, but labor markets remain tight in many regions. See how JobsEQ data reveal job ad, wage, and unemployment trends.
Economic Development
5
min readIntroducing the JobsEQ Living Wage Analytic: What is a Living Wage?
Learn what a living wage means, what basic needs it covers, and how the new JobsEQ Living Wage analytic brings better regional insight, including rural areas.
Economic Development
5
min readTaiwan semiconductor supply chain
Explore how Taiwan semiconductor supply chain disruptions could impact U.S. states, especially regions tied to AI, R&D, and data center growth.
Economic Development
5
min readEmerging Helium Shortage Could Impact Communities Across the U.S.
A global helium shortage could disrupt U.S. industries and local economies. See which metro areas may be most exposed using Chmura’s JobsEQ analysis.
Economic Development
5
min readHow Generative AI Is Reshaping Entry-Level Jobs for College Graduates
Generative AI is reshaping entry-level jobs for college graduates, reducing routine roles and increasing demand for AI-ready skills and adaptability.
Economic Development
5
min readHoliday sales 2025: NRF optimism, Deloitte caution, and what the data say
Holiday sales 2025 are set to grow but at a slower pace. Compare NRF optimism with Deloitte caution and see what the data mean for retailers this season.
Data
5
min readThe Startup Job Market in 2025: More Healthcare, More AI, and More Open Jobs
2025 startup hiring trends reveal rapid growth in AI and healthcare technology. Job postings at startups surged 60% year over year, led by demand for Python, generative AI, and LLM skills. Explore how innovation is reshaping the U.S. startup job market.
Data
5
min readAs official data stalls, real-time job ads reveal a cooling labor market with rising demand for AI skills
November 2025 labor market insights from Chmura show U.S. job postings down 30% since late 2024, while demand for AI-related skills rose 19%. Explore how real-time job ad data reveals cooling hiring trends and shifting occupational demand amid delayed federal reports.
Data
5
min readJobsEQ Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) Data Update, 2Q 2025
Chmura’s 2Q 2025 JobsEQ MSA update reveals how employment and wages changed across 387 U.S. metros. Discover which regions led job growth, where wages rose fastest, and what these patterns mean for local economies.
Data
5
min readJobsEQ Labor Market Data Update – 2Q 2025
Discover how Chmura’s JobsEQ® provides reliable Q2 2025 labor market data despite the federal government shutdown. Explore national and state-level employment trends, growth insights, and how data continuity supports economic decision-making in uncertain times.
Economy
5
min readA rising trade deficit is not necessarily bad
Dr. Chris Chmura explains why a rising U.S. trade deficit is not always a warning sign. Learn how strong demand, capital investment, and productivity gains can signal economic health
Economy
5
min readHow JobsEQ Lets You Spend Time Analyzing, Not Just Gathering, Data
At Chmura, we help our clients make better decisions by grounding strategies in data. But there’s a step that often gets overlooked in that journey from question to insight: before you can analyze data, you have to find it, clean it, and prepare it. That step can be enormously time-consuming, and it’s where JobsEQ gives you a decisive advantage.
Consulting
5
min readHow Generative AI is Disrupting the Relationship Between the Labor Market and Stocks
The historic link between stock market performance and job postings has broken down amid the rise of generative AI. While investor enthusiasm over AI technologies has sent stock prices soaring - particularly in tech - job postings have plunged, especially in high-wage white-collar sectors like software and finance. This divergence raises questions about whether we’re seeing a fundamental labor market shift, an AI investment bubble, or both.
Consulting
5
min readClass of 2025: Navigating a Cooler Hiring Climate in Richmond
Explore the hiring landscape for the Class of 2025 in Richmond, highlighting current trends in youth unemployment, wage growth, and local job demand. Discover which occupations offer promising opportunities and which fields are facing tougher competition.
5
min readWhat Tariffs and Immigration Policy Mean for the Construction Sector
The recent wave of tariffs from the United States stacks on a few existing ones, contributing to rising construction input costs.
Workforce
5
min readLeveraging AI-Supported Salary Data: 5 Key Takeaways for Better Hiring Intelligence
With artificial intelligence (AI) continuing to evolve, new opportunities are arising for teams to enhance not just efficiency, but also accuracy. Take salary benchmarking— traditional survey data are very comprehensive and useful, but when market changes happen fast, these data can quickly become stale.
Economy
5
min readFederal Layoffs Impact Early Retirement and Probationary Workers—Where Are They?
Workers eligible for voluntary early retirement and probationary workers face the brunt of federal reductions, with significant state-by-state variations in impact. According to multipliers from JobsEQ by Chmura, each laid-off federal worker can further impact an average of 1.3 other jobs at businesses that support the government agency and through the reduced local spending. Some states will feel these effects more than others.
JobsEQ
5
min readIntroducing Salary Sonar: Real-Time Compensation Benchmarking
The JobsEQ Team at Chmura is thrilled to announce the addition of Salary Sonar to our suite of real-time hiring and talent intelligence tools. Salary Sonar is designed specifically for HR professionals, talent acquisition leaders, and compensation specialists.
Case Study
5
min readThe Future of Texas Workforce
With a GDP of $2.0 trillion in 2021, Texas’s economy is larger than that of most
nations. Coupled with higher-than-average employment and population growth,
the Texas economy is poised to become even larger through the next decade
but will also be subject to the influence of the worldwide social, demographic,
and economic trends.
Economic Impact
5
min readThe Economic Impact of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline in WV, VA, and NC
Prepared September 2014 for Dominion Resources.
The one-time construction activity of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline can
inject an annual average of $456.3 million into the economy of the
three-state combined region of West Virginia, Virginia, and North
Carolina, supporting 2,873 annual jobs in the region from 2014 to
2019.
5
min readEconomic cost of Daylight Savings Time: $670 million
President-elect Donald Trump plans to end Daylight Savings Time (DST) after he takes office. DST was first created in the United States in 1918 to shift the daylight hours to evening in the warmer months.
Data
5
min readConnecticut Planning Regions Replace Counties in JobsEQ
The JobsEQ update released December 9, 2024 brought industry and occupation employment and wages data up to the second quarter of 2024.
Data
5
min readIntroducing the Housing Demand Analytic: The latest piece of the attraction and expansion puzzle
A new tool to forecast housing demand generated by new and expanding businesses.
Economic Impact
5
min readA Ho-Hum Holiday? Retailers Brace for Subdued Holiday Sales Growth
In her recent article for Richmond Times Dispatch, Chmura CEO Dr. Chris Chmura reviews forecasts and shares her insights for this coming holiday season's retail sales
5
min readEconomic impact of breast cancer: $32.7B in medical costs in 2024
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month — a time to focus on the individuals and communities impacted by breast cancer, reflect on the lives affected by this disease, and the emphasize the importance of continued support and research.
5
min readThe Cost of Breast Cancer in the United States
A recent study by the National Cancer Institute reported the total annual medical cost in 2020 for breast cancer was $29.8 billion. In this blog, Chmura estimates breast cancer medical costs for 2024.
Economic Impact
5
min readLack of R&D Spending Links To Job Loss
In her recent article for Richmond Times Dispatch, Chmura CEO Dr. Chris Chmura sheds light on the crucial role of research and development in driving economic growth.
Data
5
min readInsights From Chmura's Latest Product Release: JobsEQ RTI Global Data
Chmura is excited to announce a significant expansion to JobsEQ's Real-Time Intelligence (RTI) dataset—introducing JobsEQ RTI Global Data.
Site Selection
5
min readData Centers Decoded: From Site Selection to Economic Impact
Data centers are critical to the broad global economy and digital life, but the cost-benefit ratio can be unclear. Learn more about the impact they can have.
Workforce
5
min readProfits and Peril: Tourism as an economic development strategy
Tourism can be a lucrative industry with a big economic impact until competition rises. Read on to learn about Las Vegas & Atlantic City's tourism trends.
Workforce
5
min readOn a roll or not? A look at American hot dog consumption
Chmura's economists take a peek at the cultural impact to see why consumers are fired up year after year, even as cookout costs rise.
Workforce
5
min readIs Work From Home Driving Unknown County Employment Higher?
Learn more about how unknown counties and regions are being impacted by work from home trends.
Education
5
min readThe State of AI Jobs and Talent — We've Ranked Every MSA
The hype around new AI-powered applications has continued to maintain high levels, not only with consumers, but also with CEOs.
Data
5
min readAccuracy Matters: Preliminary Employment Estimates
For JobsEQ to provide timely and accurate labor market data, we must forecast ahead from the source data in some cases. One example of this is for employment data and what we call our "Preliminary Estimates."
Data
5
min readHarnessing Data: The Cornerstone of Business Attraction in Economic Development
In an era where data reigns supreme, its role in shaping economic landscapes cannot be overstated. As the global economy evolves, businesses increasingly rely on data-driven insights to make informed decisions.
Data
5
min readJobsEQ RTI Update: Better Sources and Years of Experience
With this refresh, we have updated classification models, improved job ad sources, and incorporated years of experience into this data.
Data
5
min readGreen Jobs Boom in 2023: Is the IRA a Leading Factor?
The potential for new, good-paying jobs from investing in a clean energy ecosystem has long been highlighted by proponents of expanding clean energy in America. John Kerry, President Biden’s former Envoy for Climate, has famously predicted the energy transition will be the new industrial revolution.
5
min readMore Than a Lost Hour of Sleep: The True Cost of Daylight Saving Time
Over the last decade, the debate around whether to get rid of DST has intensified. Chmura evaluates the potential negative impact of DST for the US.
5
min readSleepBetter Lost-Hour Economic Index
These are the findings of Chmura Economics & Analytics in a study entitled “Estimating the Economic Loss of Daylight Saving Time for U.S....
Data
5
min readThe Fate of Remote Work
The terms “remote” and “hybrid” work are often used interchangeably. However, the two should not be confused, especially when trying to establish whether the movement toward remote work is here to stay.
Data
5
min readValentine's Day-ta: Spending Could Support $34.7 Billion in Local Economic Impacts
Households with student loan debt will be rethinking spending and saving priorities, and those changes will ripple throughout the economy during this important holiday season. In early 2020, the Office of Federal Student Aid suspended loan payments in response to the economic hardships brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Forecasting
5
min readWhere Have All the Teachers Gone?
More and more, teachers are leaving the profession. While this blog won’t speculate on why we’re seeing a rise in PreK-12 teacher exits, we can offer some insight into where they are going.
Data
5
min readEconomic Impact: 2024 forecast, falling inflation, labor market cooling
A new year is always a good time to consider how the economy might perform. And many of us economists were wrong about expecting a recession in 2023. It never came to pass, but we had good reason to expect it.
Data
5
min readIs Your Locality Impacted by the Changes to the 2023 Core Based Statistical Area Definitions?
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) periodically updates the definitions of Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) and Micropolitan Statistical Areas (µSAs) based on Census commuting and population data. Significant changes often follow the decennial census as more detailed information becomes available on these trends.
Data
5
min readLatest Trends in College Completions
Households with student loan debt will be rethinking spending and saving priorities, and those changes will ripple throughout the economy during this important holiday season. In early 2020, the Office of Federal Student Aid suspended loan payments in response to the economic hardships brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Data
5
min readRestart of Student Loan Repayments May Lead to Slowdown in Consumer Retail Spending
Households with student loan debt will be rethinking spending and saving priorities, and those changes will ripple throughout the economy during this important holiday season. In early 2020, the Office of Federal Student Aid suspended loan payments in response to the economic hardships brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Data
5
min readThe Swift Effect: How Pop Culture Events Have Propped Up Local Economies
As the baby-boomer generation starts to retire and younger families are having fewer children, Social Security will face significant challenges in maintaining financial stability and providing expected benefits to future retirees.
Data
5
min readEconomic Impact: Retail Sales Are Not Expected To Be As Strong This Holiday Season
With the holiday shopping season in full force and inflation eating away at spending power, growth in retail sales is not expected to be as strong as during the last holiday season.
If the forecasts from financial services firm Deloitte and the National Retail Federation (NRF) are correct, some retailers will struggle during the season and into next year because holiday sales represent about 20% of the industry's total sales.
5
min readA Time To Be Thankful: Some Relief Expected for Your Holiday Meal
We are officially rolling into the holiday season. Grocery stores are stocking shelves and preparing for Thanksgiving in just one week.