Labour market
Racial wage gaps in US caused by ‘harder-to-measure’ factors
Lack of opportunity plays bigger role than education and profession in racial inequality, paper finds
San Francisco Fed research explores evolution of job-matching efficiency
As people out of the labour force are included, the volatility of the job-to-job transition rate falls, economists find
New NY Fed dataset shows weakening labour market
New York Fed unveils new, more granular labour market data; results so far indicate wage growth is still elusive
FOMC divided on how to proceed with policy
Strong jobs growth, but below-target inflation leaves some members emphasising room to be patient, while others warn of a potential overshoot
Kansas Fed paper looks at impact of recessions on US workers
Participation rate of “prime-age” workers most likely to vary with business cycle, paper says
BoE: market pricing implies two rate rises in next three years
Markets project first rate rise in Q3 2018, but committee says tightening may need to come sooner; MPC sees mixed picture for labour market
Flexible working may shift Nairu, ECB’s Mersch warns
Technology may increase insecurity and weaken collective bargaining, says senior ECB figure
BoE’s Broadbent: globalisation has been largely a good thing
Bank of England deputy says flexible labour market has helped dull the pain of adjustment to trade shocks, while lower prices have most benefited the poorest groups
Deregulation aided women entering US labour force – paper
ECB paper finds efforts to open up the credit market from the 1970s to 90s helped reduce the gender gap in the labour force
Barbados government should cut staffing to reduce expenditure – Worrell
Government should aim to reduce its expenditure rather than raise taxes, says former central bank governor; departments should be reorganised to operate with fewer staff
Big data sheds light on income risk – Minneapolis Fed research
Better sources of data have allowed economists to gain new insights into how income risk changes over the cycle, says researcher
IMF says remittances do not balance out losses caused by emigration
Remittances are key for providing support to LAC countries in terms of fiscal and financial stability; lack of labour resources and decline in productivity outweighs remittance support
MPC dissent grows amid BoE dilemma
Rates remain on hold but committee split 5-3 as some argue the BoE’s difficult trade-off has shifted in favour of tackling inflation
Norges Bank sees room for improvement when forecasting wages
Evaluation of forecast performance shows both the central bank and other forecasters struggled to produce accurate estimates of wage growth and unemployment
Yellen told inflation target needs revising
Economists say current economic conditions call for a revision in the inflation target; Federal Reserve should appoint commission to advise on “path forward”
Brainard turns cautious on inflation concerns
Lack of wage growth and lower than expected inflation data could slow further monetary easing, says Fed governor; interest rates are likely to rise “soon”
Protectionism is a ‘dead end’, says New York Fed president
Dudley highlights the second-round impact of protectionism, which ultimately harms higher-paying jobs; policies should foster competition and provide more assistance to workers
Considerable slack may remain in eurozone labour market – ECB
Under-utilisation of labour may affect 18% of eurozone labour force, researchers say
Capital deepening ‘virtually absent’ in US and eurozone – ECB
US and eurozone have seen major falls in net investment, an ECB article says
Offshoring of services could hinder job security – paper
National Bank of Belgium examines impact of offshoring goods and services; pace of services offshoring could hurt job prospects for those working in the sector
Deterioration in labour market not yet hitting unemployment – Chile’s Marcel
Chilean governor says self-employment has acted as a “significant buffer” as employment declined; unemployment not yet being affected thanks to “flexibility” of market, governor says
Technology driving inequality in advanced economies – IMF
Technology plays “dominant role” in explaining falling labour share of income in advanced economies, study finds; globalisation more important for emerging markets
BoE’s Forbes dissents as inflation looms
MPC member votes for 25bp hike as inflation looks set to exceed target until “at least” 2020; other members sitting on the fence, for now
IMF authors examine conditions for structural reform success
Most labour and product market reforms strengthen medium-term output and fiscal sustainability, but they may be painful to implement in some parts of the cycle