Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speaks Wednesday to the Economic Club of New York on the “State of the U.S. Labor Market.”
The speech comes as job gains have slowed considerably after a rapid recovery following pandemic-inducted layoffs in March and April. Though nonfarm payrolls have recovered more than 12 million of the lost positions, primarily in the hospitality and health care professions, more than 10 million workers remain unemployed.
After seeing a loss of 227,000 in December, nonfarm payrolls grew by 49,000 in January and the unemployment rate fell to 6.3%.
The Fed has made inclusive employment gains a priority and has said it will not raise interest rates until it sees substantial progress towards that goal.
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