Unemployment
Plosser: Fed should be stripped of dual mandate
Charles Plosser says the Federal Reserve should ‘focus solely’ on price stability, as monetary policy has ‘very limited ability’ to influence employment
Rosengren calls on FOMC to update forward guidance
Boston Fed president Eric Rosengren – who is not on the FOMC this year – calls for guidance to be increasingly linked to achieving the dual mandate
Cyclical character of US unemployment makes monetary policy a remedy, says Yellen
Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen argues cyclical character of US unemployment renders monetary policy an important tool in fighting it
Policy must do more to get women and low-skilled into work, paper finds
Slovak economists analyse the elasticity of labour supply and find that changes in the tax and benefits system could entice women in particular into the workforce
Fed's Bullard wants more research into what drives labour market participation
St Louis Fed president concludes the existing literature suggests demographics are behind most of the decline in participation, but calls for more detailed work on household participation decisions
Vaguer guidance in vogue as unemployment continues to confound
As UK and US unemployment brushes the thresholds of monetary policy forward guidance, central banks' next moves are anything but straightforward
Disappointing jobs report raises questions over Fed forward guidance
US unemployment falls toward Fed ‘threshold' of 6.5%, but few new jobs are added; confusing result raises questions for how - or whether - the Fed will proceed with its 'taper'
Israeli paper finds ‘prolonged decline’ in Nairu
Researchers at the Bank of Israel utilise the Phillips and Beveridge curves to estimate the country’s non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment between 1998 and 2012
Carney defends forward guidance as UK unemployment falls closer to BoE threshold
Bank of England governor says reaching 7% unemployment threshold does not presuppose monetary tightening, but rather incorporates a deliberate buffer before full employment is reached
Monetary policy is the incorrect tool to curb asset bubbles
There is no evidence the use of monetary policy in Sweden to keep household debt in check actually works. Such a policy only undermines employment and results in the Riksbank breaching its mandate
UK data boost could spell early end to BoE forward guidance
Inflation report out today predicts consumer price inflation will reach 2% target sooner than predicted after sharp drop in October; revised forecast on unemployment may undermine forward guidance
Senior Fed staff consider further stimulus
Two of the Federal Reserve’s top economists have produced papers outlining the merits of ‘highly accommodative’ monetary policy, including a lower unemployment threshold
Kocherlakota urges Fed to do ‘whatever it takes’ to boost labour market
Persistently low inflation means the Federal Reserve can throw all its resources behind the fledgling labour market recovery, according to the Minneapolis Fed president
Turning forward guidance into 20:20 vision
The Bank of England’s vision of forward guidance is incomplete and could shake confidence in the central bank’s policy framework.
US jobs data disappoint raising doubts over September taper
Unemployment fell to 7.3% in August, but modest improvement in jobs data eclipsed by big negative revisions of June and July figures; analysts split over how numbers affect Fed's decision to taper QE
Fed contemplates change to forward guidance
Minutes from the FOMC’s July meeting show members were divided over the outlook for the US economy, and on the prospect of tinkering with the Fed’s forward guidance
Unemployment strongest predictor of mortgage default in the US
Atlanta Fed research finds that individual unemployment increases the probability of mortgage default by 5 to 13 percentage points compared with average sample
Employment losses have repaired corporate balance sheets, paper argues
Differences in post-crisis employment among EU members are largely driven by need in many countries to adjust balance sheets, according to IMF working paper
BoE’s Weale votes against forward guidance
Martin Weale votes against guidance out of concern for medium-term inflation expectations, while MPC members remain divided over the prospect of more QE
Cleveland Fed’s Pianalto signals willingness to taper
Sandra Pianalto recognises ‘meaningful improvement’ in labour market conditions and outlook; prepared to scale back asset purchases if current pace of progress is maintained
Bank of England ties monetary policy to unemployment
MPC will not raise interest rates or unwind its asset purchases ‘at least until’ the unemployment rate falls below 7%; unlikely to happen within the next three years according to latest forecast
San Fran research links unemployment to business uncertainty
Research produced by the San Francisco Fed finds that business uncertainty over economic policy is an ‘important factor’ behind the persistent levels of unemployment in the US
Fed's Plosser calls for more systematic monetary policy approach
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia president Charles Plosser is bullish on the US labour market, calls for QE wind-down
Fed's Stein clarifies unemployment ‘threshold' for rate change
Permanent FOMC voter seeks to provide extra clarity over Bernanke statement last week; emphasises that interest rates could stay at rock-bottom even if unemployment falls to 6.5%