The ranks of women in the workforce jumped by more than 24 percentage points between 1955 and 1999. Credit labor-saving devices at home (such as the dishwasher), the birth-control pill and the preference by some men to marry a woman who works outside the home.

One study shows that Kenya and Hakim might have more trouble getting their resumes noticed than Allison and Brad do. But another study indicates that distinctively African-American names don't lead to worse economic outcomes in adulthood.

If you've long suspected that the boss rewards not just hard work but good looks, you're right, based on research into the impact of beauty, weight and height on wages.

Workers are switching jobs more often than in the past. Among the reasons are changes in technology, changes in demographics and changes in such institutions as unions and international trade.

Technology usually gets the credit for the unusually low unemployment of the not-too-distant past. But baby boomers, with all their years' experience, also played a role.

The target set by the FOMC for the federal funds rate applies to the entire country. But that single policy has a different impact on different parts of the country, depending on their concentration of interest-sensitive industries.

Satisfying a need to get out in the field, some economists are studying sports. Their topics have included racism in the NBA, coaches' maximization of their chances of winning, and the direction that soccer players and goalies should move during penalty kicks.

New studies have looked at the impact of easier divorce on everything from women working outside the home to children's education to spousal violence.

Whether it's because of employer bias or their own hard work, men who've married are paid more than those who've never said "I do."

Although Americans appear to be spending less time on the job than they were a hundred years ago, there's some question as to whether they have more leisure time.