Remarks
The Curious Case of Hard-to-Find Workers
A record-high share of small businesses report trouble filling jobs.
This article is for subscribers only.
It’s Fed day. This afternoon the Federal Open Market Committee will issue a statement on its latest deliberations on monetary policy and then Chairman Jerome Powell will face questions from reporters. Here’s a question I hope someone will ask: How hard is it for businesses to find employees?
This is a hugely important question for the Fed because if there are lots of available workers, wages will remain low and inflation will stay soft. If instead it’s hard to fill jobs, employers will have to raise wages. Then they might have to raise prices to cover the rising wage bill. And that’s inflation.