Employment
Federal Reserve policy has handled the twin challenges by meeting the first, employment, head on with policy and rhetoric, and placing the second, inflation, in abeyance.
Throughout the pandemic Federal Reserve policy makers have focused on replacing the jobs lost in the lockdowns. Chair Jerome Powell has repeatedly said that its policy will remain accommodative until the US economy and employment are fully recovered.
After the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting whose edited minutes will be released on Wednesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell noted to reporters, in an uncharacteristically brusque answer, that “We have had one great jobs report,” referring to the March NFP which was then 916,000. “That is not enough.”
ThyBlackMan.com) When you understate the number of unemployed, which leads to understating our unemployment rates,
people can literally go hungry, as they are underserved when it comes to potential and real federal government benefits. It is super important to get our unemployment rates right, so that the unemployed are not invisible. They should be readily visible to policymakers, to voters and the general public. Real data can lead to “
real” solutions. Using real data, policymakers can actively address our unemployment situation and actually solve it.
The inability of a statistical survey, especially one that is official, such as our monthly jobs report, to capture the full picture of what is going on in our economy, when it comes to joblessness, leads to systemic racism. Objectivity and who is measured, and which unemployment rate category is presented as the “
Another quick FOMC preview (decision due Wednesday 28 April 2021)
Wed 28 Apr 2021 01:12:33 GMT
statement at 1800 GMT
Powell press conference at 1830GMT A real quick snippet via Merrill Lynch:
we expect Chair Powell and the FOMC to give a more positive
view of the economy but reiterate that risks remain from the virus
and further progress is needed before a shift in policy.
For more preview, posted earlier:
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The Federal Reserve restated its intent to keeping a lid on interest rates, saying the pandemic “continues to weigh on the economy, and risks to the economic outlook remain.”
Rates on 10-year Treasurys, a benchmark for mortgages, dropped after the Fed’s announcement, as investor demand for bonds sagged in reaction to the Fed’s dovish announcement.
The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee issued a statement today saying it intends to keep short-term rates, which the Fed has direct control over, near 0 percent until unemployment falls and inflation “is on track to moderately exceed 2 percent for some time.”
Although the Fed doesn’t have direct control over long-term rates, it can influence them by buying government bonds and mortgage-backed securities. The Fed said it will continue buying at least $80 billion in Treasury securities and $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities every month “until substantial further progress has been made” toward hitting its emplo