Are they still shooting for a 5% unemployment rate with that?
My impression in watching Powell talk is that he doesn’t give a damn about the unemployed or the employed. He wants inflation to be 2%, come hell or high water. His focus on labor seemed to be only related to stemming increased labor costs.
That’s bad news for the employed because inflation is outpacing wage increases and Powell does not want labor cost to increase. As for the unemployed, I personally wouldn’t listen to anything Powell says about that. If you work with other people you already know the productivity of others. What percentage of them don’t really deserve a job? It’s higher than 5%. Unemployment at this point is actually a good thing for the economy. We have over employment and that means there are employees that are counterproductive. They not only don’t pull their weight, they cause inefficiencies in other’s work product.
Inflation is cured by increased productivity. The one thing nobody wants to talk about is the massive size of government. Government doesn’t make a damn thing. Government is the obstacle to productivity. Government employment need to be radically slashed to cure inflation. Cuts to government spending should be the driver of government employee cuts. That ain’t happening. Both McConnell and McCarthy are one board with an omnibus spending bill. Government spending will increase.