Unemployment
Podcast: Boston Fed backs community action on Covid-19 and racial inequality
Working Cities Challenge is not only helping economic resurgence in struggling cities, but also fostering better responses to Covid-19 and racial inequality, official explains
Bernanke and Yellen join call for new fiscal stimulus in US
Former Fed chairs among 148 economists warning of “disastrous” effects if Congress fails to act
US economy entering ‘bounce back’ phase – Powell
Fed chair forced to defend move to follow through with corporate bond purchases in Senate hearing
Recession causes inequality ‘double whammy’ – research
Paper links loss of hours worked to inequality, with recessions causing a negative ratchet effect
Fed policy is too tight given FOMC projections – former Fed economist
“An outlook that bad for that long is a clear sign that policy is too tight,” Joseph Gagnon says
Fed promises to keep buying assets at current rate
Fed will hold accommodation in place for “however long it takes”, chair Jerome Powell says; FOMC releases first projections this year
US unemployment falls sharply in May
Unemployment rate declined to 13.3% from 14.7% in April, despite widespread fears it would rise
Phillips curve flatter when inflation is low – researchers
Downward wage and price rigidities cause non-linearity in Phillips curve, says Peterson Institute paper
Central banking enters a new era
Central banks face a delicate balancing act to preserve their reputations as they evolve into ‘buyers of last resort’ and some of their actions appear functionally equivalent to ‘monetary financing’
RBA’s Lowe says fiscal policy must do more in the future
Governor says nations can no longer depend on monetary policy to keep inflation under control
Banxico forecasts Mexican economy could fall by 8.8% in 2020
Central bank stresses the profound uncertainty to which the economy is subject
Record hiring needed to reach pre-crisis unemployment by end-2021 – paper
Hiring four times faster than most robust pace in Great Recession still not enough, researchers find
Economists challenge standard notion of labour market recovery
Paper on post-crisis recoveries questions demand shortfall narrative
Covid-19 biggest threat to Fed mandate ‘in our lifetimes’ – Clarida
Fed may not provide further forward guidance until September, Richard Clarida says
The ECB, the lockdown and the monetary financing lock
The eurozone’s central bank may need to break its prohibition on monetary financing to fight the pandemic
PBoC’s post-pandemic policy is still up in the air
The Chinese central bank has resisted radical easing, but with the NPC meeting this week, more loosening could be on the way, despite debt-level concerns, writes Hui Feng
RBNZ nearly doubles asset purchase programme
Policy-makers aim to front-load stimulus as economy faces “significant and unprecedented decline”
Scale of Covid-19 impact shows up starkly in US stats
All of the US’s key macroeconomic indicators point to a dramatic slump
Fed set to adopt ‘elements’ of price-level targeting
Covid-19 could act as a catalyst for a Janet Yellen-supported Fed move to adopt elements of price-level targeting. But questions remain about the timing of such a move
New York Fed paper finds possible failings in US pandemic aid
Research on Paycheck Protection Program says some heavily virus-affected areas of US may be losing out
Carbon tax spike could spur global recession – S&P
Higher carbon prices would trigger widespread industry defaults, says agency research unit
Fed predicts ‘unprecedented’ economic shock
Policy on hold as Q2 may see data “worse than any data we have seen”, Powell warns
US default rates could hit 8.1% without policy action – Richmond Fed
Loan forbearance policies could see this drop to “essentially zero” in 2021, researchers say
Women affected more by job losses in US lockdown – Kansas Fed
Roughly 60% of job losses were to women in the first half of March, researchers find