Jobs Are Jerome Powell’s Number One Job

In his address at the annual Jackson Hole economic conference, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell offered a finely calibrated message that I think is worth amplification: The Fed wants to do everything it can to restore jobs lost during the pandemic, but that doesn’t mean it’s not taking the risk of inflation seriously.

As I interpret his remarks, Powell remains optimistic about the U.S. recovery. He expects the strong demand and job gains of the last few months to persist into next year, and he views any disruptions related to the rise of the delta variant as likely to be modest and transient.