Fed’s Bostic Warns More Permanent Layoffs Pose Risk to Recovery

Slowing U.S. employment gains and an increased proportion of permanent layoffs could undermine the economic recovery with disproportionate harm to minorities, said Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic.

“Widespread permanent job loss could become a material risk to the recovery,” Bostic said Monday in prepared remarks to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. “The data on this are clear: permanently laid off workers find it far more difficult to rejoin the labor force. This would make recovery more difficult to sustain.”