Employment Links
Federal Reserve issues FOMC statement; Overall Economic Activity, Job Gains and Inflation: "The Committee is strongly committed to returning inflation to its 2 percent objective."
"Overall economic activity appears to have picked up after edging down in the first quarter. Job gains have been robust in recent months, and the unemployment rate has remained low. Inflation remains elevated, reflecting supply and demand imbalances related to the pandemic, higher energy prices, and broader price pressures..." "The Committee seeks to achieve maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the longer run. In support of these goals, the Committee decided to raise the target range for the federal funds rate to 1‑1/2 to 1-3/4 percent and anticipates that ongoing increases in the target range will be appropriate. In addition, the Committee will continue reducing its holdings of Treasury securities and agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities, as described in the Plans for Reducing the Size of the Federal Reserve's Balance Sheet that were issued in May. The Committee is strongly committed to returning inflation to its 2 percent objective."
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Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol
"(1) To investigate and report upon the facts, circumstances, and causes relating to the January 6, 2021, domestic terrorist attack upon the United States Capitol Complex (hereafter referred to as the “domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol”) and relating to the interference with the peaceful transfer of power, including facts and causes relating to the preparedness and response of the United States Capitol Police and other Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies in the National Capital Region and other instrumentalities of government, as well as the influencing factors that fomented such an attack on American representative democracy while engaged in a constitutional process. (2) To examine and evaluate evidence developed by relevant Federal, State, and local governmental agencies regarding the facts and circumstances surrounding the domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol and targeted violence and domestic terrorism relevant to such terrorist attack. (3) To build upon the investigations of other entities and avoid unnecessary duplication of efforts by reviewing the investigations, findings, conclusions, and recommendations of other executive branch, congressional, or independent bipartisan or nonpartisan commission investigations into the domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol, including investigations into in ... more »
*GAO Report on Pandemic Learning: Less Academic Progress Overall, Student and Teacher Strain, and Implications for the Future GAO-22-105816 Published: Jun 08, 2022. Publicly Released: Jun 08, 2022
"Compared to a typical school year, teachers reported that more of their students started the 2020-21 school year behind and made less academic progress, according to GAO's generalizable survey of K-12 public school teachers. Teachers also reported that many students ended the year behind grade level expectations (see figure). Educators and parents also shared their insights and experiences about student struggles and learning loss during the year." more »
Federal Reserve: Responding to High Inflation, with Some Thoughts on a Soft Landing; What Is Slide Four We Ask?
May 30, 2022; Governor Christopher J. Waller At the Institute for Monetary and Financial Stability (IMFS) Distinguished Lecture, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany: To sum up, the relationship between vacancies and unemployment gives me reason to hope that policy tightening in current circumstances can tame inflation without causing a sharp increase in unemployment. Of course, the path of the economy depends on many factors, including how the Ukraine war and COVID-19 evolve. From this discussion, I am left optimistic that the strong labor market can handle higher rates without a significant increase in unemployment. more »