Fed Meeting May Give Clues To Coronavirus-era Jobs Plans

WASHINGTON: Eight years ago, as the United States struggled through the aftermath of a deep recession, the Federal Reserve set an unemployment rate it felt would be a good benchmark to show the economy was getting back to normal.

The 6.5% number the Fed set in 2012 was almost double the unemployment rate the U.S. eventually hit during a record-setting economic expansion, leaving many convinced the Fed had misjudged the willingness of those on the economic sidelines to get back to work.

This week, the Fed will revive that debate under drastically different circumstances as it begins to put into practice a revised approach to monetary policy at its meeting on Sept. 15 and 16. Mistakes about job creation are a thing of the past, the Fed is promising, with an expansive commitment to “broad-based and inclusive” employment announced in late August.

What’s unclear is just what the Fed plans to do to speed a return to full employment for the nearly 30 million Americans collecting some form of unemployment benefit, and when it will pull the trigger. The issues are consequential to Wall Street investors, businesses large and small, masses of jobless in America, and possibly the November presidential election.

Source: The Economic Times

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