Economics
What Powell Needs to Know About U.S. Labor-Force Participation
Six lessons that hold the key to the next phase of Fed policy
Pantheon's Shepherdson Concerned About Inflation Risk
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Jerome Powell, President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the Federal Reserve, says he’s focused on the disappearance of men from the U.S. labor force. He’s not the first: Fed Chair Janet Yellen counted it as a major concern and part of why she never took the main unemployment rate at face value, even as it dipped to a 16-year low.
But Powell, who’s slated to succeed Yellen in February, is correct that prime-age male labor participation may hold the key to getting the next stage of Fed policy right. We took a dive into labor data across the country, and here are six lessons that the new chairman will need to have a handle on.